Wednesday Writing Workout: Befriending the Revision Monster

Today I'm happy to share a guest Wednesday Writing Workout from Illinois author Shirin Shamsi.

Shirin was born and raised in the UK to immigrant parents from Pakistan. She moved to the United States where she raised three wonderful human beings who are doing great things in the world.
Shirin always wanted to write stories in which her children would see themselves. Living on three different continents gave her a global perspective and she dreams of writing stories that inspire empathy. You can read more about her at her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Shirin's most recent book is the middle-grade novel Laila and the Sands of Time (Spork). Here's a brief summary:

Thirteen-year-old Laila, still grieving over her father's death, goes on their planned pilgrimage to Mecca with her aunt and uncle. While on pilgrimage, Laila is transported back in time to 7th-century Arabia. There she faces the dangers of the desert, takes on a disguise, and saves a baby's life. But will she ever return to her own time?


Here's Shirin's Wednesday Writing Workout.

Wednesday Writing Workout:
Befriending the Revision Monster
by Shirin Shamsi

I began writing Laila and the Sands of Time when my eldest daughter asked me to write a chapter book. At the time I considered myself a picture book author only.

The journey has been a long road. I learned much from it. I was a total "pantser" before and now try to be a plotter, so hopefully I am becoming a bit of both.

I feared revision before. In fact, I believe it was the fear of revision that made procrastination much more palatable to me. My fear of revision grew and grew until it became a monster.

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

Let’s face it, if you love writing then revision is going to be your companion for the duration of your writing career. It has taken a lot of time, patience, and perseverance, but I now come to revision with the same excitement I bring to writing a rough draft. Revision and I are now best friends.
From the time I signed the contract for Laila and the Sands of Time to the moment when I held it in my hands, it took two whole years. During that time I went back and forth with my editor. Without my amazing editor, I feel my book would not have been as good. It was a learning process for me, being my first middle grade novel. I was impatient to see my story in print, but even when I thought my story was perfect, my editor made it shine. Our constant back and forth conversations and revision made my book the best it could be.

I feel so passionate about revision that I would like to share a few ideas here with you:

1. When you feel your story is complete, put it away. Let it rest.
2. When you read it again, ask yourself if every fact has been researched. For Laila, I had to research a lot about 7th-century Arabia. I feared getting the facts wrong.
3. Also ask yourself: Does everything make sense? Is every page interesting?
4. Each time you revise, approach your work with a new goal, such as word choice, tone, factual details, story arc, plot.
5. Go through each page to cut out the “widows” and “orphans” at the beginning and end of each page. It will make for a cleaner and tighter story.
6. Read your story as though someone else has written it. Does it still excite you? If your answer is “YES” then you are ready to share your story with the world.

Revision is a lengthy process. I think of it as excavation. We have to dig deep, cut through hard obstacles to get to our gem of a story.

Image by PaulaPaulsen from Pixabay

Good luck. Keep writing. Keep revising.
_____
Thank you, Shirin, for today's Wednesday Writing Workout. Readers, I hope you'll try her suggestions. If you do, please let us know how they work for you.

Posted by Carmela

Wednesday Writing Workout: The Villain’s Journey

Today's Wednesday Writing Workout is courtesy of Leanne Pankuch, my "Writing Buddy" and former critique group member. Long-time TeachingAuthors readers may recall this post where I mentioned Leanne. Well, I'm happy to share that Leanne's first novel, Dragon's Truth, was published earlier this year by Vinspire Publishing. In honor of the book's six-month birthday, Leanne is offering a special giveaway of the novel, which you can read about below.
Here's Leanne's official bio:

Born in Canada, Leanne Pankuch now lives in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley. She walks in the woods, plays with her dog, amuses her husband, reads way too many books, and sometimes moonlights as a substitute teacher. She also writes stories about dragons, dogs, and strong female characters who rush headlong into following their dreams with plenty of passion and not much planning. You can follow Leanne through her website and on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Leanne's debut young-adult novel, Dragon's Truth, is a marvelous blend of mystery and fantasy.  Here's a summary:

Fourteen-year-old Rhyannon Kember dreams of dragons, wizards, and magic. She feels constrained by her ordinary life and overshadowed by her beautiful sister Elspeth. When Elspeth is kidnapped, Rhyan embarks on a journey to save her sister and face the evil threatening their world. She finds friendship, adventure, love, and the magic and power she's been craving—but she also discovers a growing darkness within herself. Will she be able to control her abilities and save Elspeth? Will she choose the path of light? Or will she slip into the dragon's darkness?

NOTE: As a special promotion for the six-month publication anniversary of Dragon’s Truth, Leanne is giving away a signed copy of the novel along with a decorative map of the world of Dragon’s Truth. See her website for complete details.

And now, here's Leanne's great WWW, a twist on The Hero's Journey:

Wednesday Writing Workout:

The Villain’s Journey

In addition to fulfilling my dream of writing an epic fantasy with a female main character, my debut YA novel Dragon’s Truth reflects my long-time fascination with the concept of the monomyth, better known as The Hero’s Journey (THJ) – the term coined by academic Joseph Campbell. THJ is a classic story structure shared by many tales from different cultures. As many of you may already know, books (The Hunger Games, the Harry Potter series, The Hobbit), movies (Finding Nemo, Star Wars, Black Panther), and even TV, cable, and online series (Dora the Explorer, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things) have main characters who follow plot-paths that can be mapped to THJ.

But great storytelling doesn’t just involve heroes—you’ve got to have villains/antagonists, too. My main character, Rhyan, would never have set out on her adventure if her sister hadn’t been kidnapped by my villain. And who would Harry Potter have been without Voldemort?

When I sat down to begin the sequel to Dragon’s Truth, I not only plotted my MC’s journey, but my villain’s journey as well—I called this process shadow plotting. I used color-coded notecards and recorded the stages of each character’s movement through THJ—then I laid the cards out in parallel rows, lining them up according to the chapters where they occurred. The process was a revelation! It truly fleshed out my villain in my mind’s eye. For the first time, I recognized him as the hero of his own story—a story that began long before Rhyan ever set out on her adventure. As I began to write, that clearer image in my creative mind translated on to the page. My villain became a fuller and richer character—not just a vague phantom that does evil or is “bad” for some unknown reason. And my fantasy world and Rhyan’s story became more vivid and meaningful as a result.

Ready to try out shadow plotting with your own WIP? Using notecards or a document with labeled columns, answer the following questions about your main character and your antagonist/villain:

1. Describe the Ordinary World/Setting for the character: What is their life like before their adventure begins? Where do they live? Do they have a family? Are they happy? Bored? 
2. What is the Catalyst/Call to Adventure that begins the character’s story? Does a secret door open? Do they receive a mysterious letter? Find/need a magical object? Lose their dog? Find out their class is putting on a play? Consider running away? Going to college? Are they kidnapped? Do they meet a stranger? Does an annoying new kid move into town?
3. When does the Catalyst/Call to Adventure occur for the character? At the beginning/In the first chapter of the book? Before the story in your book begins? Many years before?

Review the cards. Have you learned anything new about your villain/antagonist? Are they content in their life until the hero shows up? Or are they already near the end of their adventure when the hero throws a wrench in their plans? Do they even know/care about the hero and her quest/goal?

No matter your genre or format and regardless of your chosen plotting or structure device or plot/writing bible—The Writer’s Journey, Save the Cat, Wired for Story, Wonderbook, The Plot Whisperer, The Snowflake Method, etc.—I truly believe that shadow plotting can be a valuable, insightful tool for adding depth and authenticity to your characters and their story.

 -----

Our thanks to Leanne for today's WWW. Do let us know if you try this exercise, and how it works for you. And don't forget to enter to win a signed copy of the Dragon's Truth and a cool map! See Leanne's website for details. And if you haven't yet entered our TeachingsAuthors giveaway of Deanie Yasner's debut middle-grade novel, Essie Rose’s Revelation Summer, you can do so on this page.

Carmela

Wednesday Writing Workout: LET'S BEAT IT OUT!

A brand-new TeachingAuthor in her own right/write brings us today’s beat-a-ful
Wednesday Writing Workout: debut picture book author and Colorado high school English teacher Heather Preusser.
Lucky me to have worked with Heather this past July at my Manuscript Workshop in Vermont on her next work, a YA novel.
And now lucky you to learn from her storytelling smarts.

Gorgeously illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen, Heather’s picture book, A Symphony of Cowbells (Sleeping Bear Press, 2017), tells the tale of Petra and her Swiss cow, Elfi, who loses her bell and disrupts the harmony of the herd.

Heather believes Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat Beat Sheet- affectionately known as The BS2 - helped Petra and Elfi save the day - and - Heather save her picture book’s plot.

FYI: The Beat Sheet is a plot structure template; it reduces the three-act structure into small, manageable sections, each offering a specific goal for the story as a whole.

Thank you, Heather, for creating today’s WWW, teaching us how to plot our stories one beat at a time.

Happy Writing!

Esther Hershenhorn

…….

              LET’S BEAT IT OUT!

     Whenever I’m stuck on a manuscript – whether I’m brainstorming a young adult novel or revising a picture book – I turn to the official “Blake Snyder Beat Sheet” (a.k.a. the BS2) from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need. Seeing the fifteen different beats on one sheet is eye-opening; I can identify where certain beats are too long and where others are missing entirely.

THE BLAKE SNYDER BEAT SHEET (aka BS2)

To demonstrate, I put my debut picture book, A SYMPHONY OF COWBELLS, through the “BS2” test: 

Opening Image: In the end pages, the effusive midday sun rises behind the mountains, and figurines put on a musical performance, alluding to the titular symphony. A bell-less Elfi and Petra watch from above while two large Alpine crows fly about, adding to the activity we can both see and hear and hinting at the hustle and bustle to come. The clock motif that the illustrator, Eileen Ryan Ewen, weaves throughout the story not only connects to the Swiss setting but also hints at a ticking clock – literally – and increases the overall tension.

Theme Stated: The cover image features Petra offering a bouquet of sweet, tasty flowers to Elfi and establishes the theme of friendship. Efli wears her big booming brass bell proudly; however, it’s missing by the time we open the book. “What lengths should one go to help a friend?” becomes the central argument.

Set-Up: In the first few pages we’re introduced to the persistent protagonist, Petra, as well as her favorite caramel-colored cow, Elfi, who is both prideful and stubborn.

Catalyst: When Petra joins the herd in the lower meadows, she notices Elfi’s familiar melody is missing; her big, booming brass bell is gone.

Debate: Can Elfi make do without a bell? Petra’s father suggests this solution; however, Efli stamps her hoof.

Break into Two: Elf refuses to move, so Petra must march into Act Two. She helps her friend, literally taking hold of the reins and pulling the cow while her father pushes. Because Petra pulls toward the right, it encourages the reader to turn the page and keep reading.

B Story: In this manuscript, the A and B story run concurrently, and in the B story we’re introduced to two large Alpine crows. Although this isn’t a traditional love story, it is a love story: These crows adore shiny objects and, as flighty, thieving birds, they act as the “upside down versions” of the durable, dependable cows in Act One. 

Fun and Games: Petra proposes a different bell, a tiny tin bell that makes an embarrassing tinkling sound. Elfi scoffs at the suggestion. With its butt in the air, even the farm cat has fun inspecting the contents of a nearby bucket (another hint we’re in the upside down version of Act One).

Midpoint: Things are worse off than they were at the story’s start because now the entire herd is out of tune and refuses to move. If the cows don’t head to the high pasture, there will be no grazing, no milk, and no cheese! This is a false defeat. Even the curious cat has toppled over the bucket, symbolizing the toppling effect Elfi’s missing bell has on the entire farm.

Bad Guys Close In: While Petra begs Elfi to move, we see the consequences of Mr. Schmidt’s stolen pocket watch in the Jan-Brett-esque panel at the bottom of the page: The cheese shop owner has overslept (as has the mouse!), and a closed sign hangs on the door. Now everyone in Gimmelwald will be without scrumptious cheese.

All Is Lost: All is literally lost as Petra searches for Elfi’s bell. Although Petra finds nothing, the illustrations hint at a false victory: The cat in the background appears to have his eye on a few mice in the open cupboard, and the crows have gathered even more loot from mother’s jewelry box. The three Swiss cuckoo clocks hanging on the wall remind us that time is running out while the mice’s eminent death symbolizes a “whiff of death” moment.

Dark Night of the Soul: Petra looks out her window onto the pasture. Her posture – as well as the cat’s – suggests she’s been beaten and she knows it. That it’s dusk helps set a somber mood. At this point, there appears to be no solution, although the curtains blowing in the breeze hint that change is coming.

Break into Three: The next morning, while picking flowers for Elfi, Petra discovers a solution: She sees a crow carrying something shiny and decides to follow it. (The reader only sees the crow’s shadow, keeping the solution a secret for a few more pages.)

Finale: Petra follows the bird to a large nest. With the help of the neighbors and her parents, she reaches into the nest and discovers the missing items. She removes them in the reverse order, saving Elfi’s big booming bell for last. After Petra reunites bell and bovine, the other cows mosey up the mountainside; it’s a loud symphony! The panels at the bottom of each page show the other lost objects being returned to the rightful owners. The side panels echo the celebratory tone as well: The figurines play music while others hang colorful banners in preparation for the Alpine Cheese Festival on the last spread.

Final Image: Now the clock in the end pages suggests it’s evening with the moon rising behind the clouds. Everyone is tired from the adventure. Petra yawns, suggesting she’ll be asleep soon. The cool colors – blues and violets – create a calm mood, encouraging the young reader to drift off to sleep as well.

Now it’s your turn: take your current work-in-progress – or one of your favorite model texts – and “beat it out”!

YAY! for lucky accidents!

The Celebrate Oops! initiative we TeachingAuthors are currently exploring in our February posts celebrates both Barney Saltzberg’s picture book BEAUTIFUL OOPS! – and – the Teachable Moments accidents fortunately bring us.

I had such a fortunate Teachable Moment while brainstorming my picture book FANCY THAT with my Holiday House Editor Mary Cash.

I knew the setting – Berks County, Pennsylvania; I knew the time – 1841; and I knew my story’s Hero – young Pippin Biddle, orphaned without warning, the son of a limner - an itinerant portrait painter.

Mary agreed with me that such a picture book would be ripe with historical and arts curriculum connections.

My sketchy plotline was just that – i.e. sketchy: accompanied by his dog Biscuit, (whom I pictured to be lap-size), Pip would travel the Pennsylvania/New York area through the first 3 seasons of the year unsuccessfully earning his keep painting people’s portraits, returning at Thanksgiving with an empty purse and heart.

“But why would young readers care about such a boy on such a journey?” I asked my editor. 

“Well,” Mary began, “could he have a few sisters who needed Pip to earn his keep?” she asked.

Orphans, Mary shared, can be lovely in a story.
“And, maybe,” she suggested, “Pip’s dog could be part of the resolution?”
And then she paused, her gaze meeting mine.
“You know, Christmas books do so much better than Thankgiving titles,” she commented.  “What if Pip returned at Christmas?”

Driven to tell this singular story, I back-burnered Mary’s 3 delicious suggestions with an open mind, even though I’m a nice Jewish girl from West Philadelphia and writing a Christmas picture book was not in my wheelhouse, as they say.

But guess what?

Fast forward to the stacks of the Wilmette Public Library, one week later, when I discovered (1) there was no Thanksgiving to celebrate in the U.S. in 1841 and (2) few Americans celebrated Christmas at that time!

OOPS!

And OOPS²… except...the German immigrants, who’d just happened to settle in Berks County in central Pennsylvania, had brought along their Christmas tradition of making evergreen wreaths and decorating their fir trees!

So,

while Pip’s dog Biscuit gathers the greenery of each season, and Pip paints his portrait to send home to his Poor House-ensconced sisters Emma, Lyddie and Martha,

 

before too long,

Pip’s sisters themselves, inspired by Pip’s portraits, create a livelihood that builds them their home

and Pip discovers his hidden talent.

 

Fancy that!

Lucky Pip and his sisters! Lucky me and my readers!

And all quite by accident.

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.
Jennifer T won the SKIN AND BONES giveaway!

P.P.S.
A writer with whom I corresponded this past week shared the following Dalai Lama quote benath her name.  I thought it relevant.

 "Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." 

Happy Driving!

We TeachingAuthors have been posting about our intended plotlines for 2015.
I so appreciate my fellow bloggers’ insights and their willingness to share their experiences, smarts and intentions for this coming year.

Like JoAnn, I’ve been walking a dog too this past week - my GrandDoggieDaughter Maggie, in the soul-freeing coatless-bootless-hatless-gloveless-scarfless clime of warm and sunny mountain-surrounded Phoenix.

I’ve been thinking on what I need/want/wish to share in this post and it is this: when it comes to plotlines, the character’s in the driver’s seat.

It took me forever - as in countless rejected manuscripts showcasing countless puppet-like characters - to understand this truth.

And not just as it applies to the plotline of a story I’m writing…but also to the writer’s plotline I’m living every day.
I need to know my character’s need/want/wish … and I need to know mine.
Otherwise neither of us can act, re-act, grow and triumph as we drive the twists and turns of our stories’ highways.
Digging deep within – my characters and myself - reveals the answer, always.

Fortunately, we’re but 19 days into our new year.

So as I work on my own writer’s story, I’m digging away, hoping to uncover my need/want/wish, helped by the following three insights I came upon the first week of January.

Marketing guru Seth Godin’s January 1 post – “USED TO BE” – set off non-stop sparks in my mind and heart.

The phrase “used to be,” it turns out, connotes neither failure nor obsolescence.  Instead, it signals bravery and progress.
“If you were brave enough to leap,” Godin posited, “who would you choose to 'used to be'?”
Hmmmmm…..I pondered.
The possibilities intrigued me.

In her January 4 Chicago Tribune column, writer Heidi Stevens suggested we skip declaring New Year’s resolutions and instead write a mission statement.
A mission statement, she wrote, “was less about what she should tackle and more about the shape she wanted her life to take.”
I liked that insight.  What struck me most was her own mission statement: to focus on what she knows to be true.
Hmmmmm….I pondered further.
More possibilities to consider.

Finally, Stevens’ fellow Chicago Tribune writer Mary Schmich shared an idea in her January 7 column that April Halprin Wayland echoed in her January 9 post:  choose one word to live by in the coming year.
Having to select that one word that would guide your new year was akin to “being dropped inside a Super Target,” Schmich wrote, “and asked to pick one object, and only one, that you would carry with you for the next 12 months.”
Once again, I pondered intriguing possibilities.
Embrace?  Flow?  Risk? Grow?  Leap?  Simply, be?

What and who I used to be.  My mission statement.  My one word for the coming year.

I believe knowing all of the above will help me finally nail my need/want/wish for 2015.

Just like that, I’ll be traveling my plotline, both hands on the wheel, eyes open and focused. 

Happy Driving to our TeachingAuthors’ readers!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

Saturday, January 24, from noon to 4 pm (in respective time zones) is the first-ever National Readathon Day, a nation-wide reading session that allows you to promote reading while pledging and fundraising to support the National Book Foundation. Think of it like “a walk-a-thon charity drive, only you’re turning pages instead of walking laps.”

13 Ways of Looking at Plotting ~ and Happy Poetry Friday!

.
Howdy, Campers!

Happy Poetry Friday!  A poem by Paul Bennett and the link to Tabatha's Poetry Friday post are below.

In TeachingAuthors' opening round for 2015, we are each asking ourselves, "What Are We 'Plotting' for 2015?"

Mary Ann started us out, sharing how she does or does not plot."Planning and plotting are not the same thing," she writes. "Plotting is knowing what happens first, then next, then next and at the end. I never know more than one of those things before I start writing.  I've stopped worrying about it."

Thank you, Mary Ann. I haven't a clue how to plot.  When I sit down to write, I'm never sure if I'm starting a poem, a song, a verse novel or a picture book.  I might be inspired by a color or a phrase from the news. Of course I know that everyone doesn't plot their stories methodically, but it's great relief to be reminded of this!

A group photo of the TeachingAuthors.
from morguefile.com

We are each snowflakes in the way we approach writing and life; and beyond this, I think that we are different from moment to moment, year to year, in crisis and celebration.

For example, until recently, I would say I'm fairly disciplined.  I've been writing a poem every day since April 1, 2010 (1,743 poems), I brawl with L.A. traffic every two weeks to meet with my marvelous critique group, I write in amiable silence with three or four other writers weekly, and I have a goal or two tucked away in my writer's smock--a couple of picture books, a novel in verse, a collection of poetry, a Pulitzer Prize.

But when my mother began to fade, particularly this last year, it was all I could do to hold onto my writer's smock.  Why? Partly because of the increased responsibility, and partly because of the foggy lethargy which set in.

Yeah...kinda like this.
from morguefile.com

There is so much to do, now that Mom has died.  So, I've stopped attending my critique group, stopped writing books, stopped meeting with other authors at my friend's sunny kitchen table.

I still write a poem a day, though.

So, What am I Plotting in 2015?  Nothing.

Well, writing a poem a day.  But beyond that?  I haven't a clue.

I'm reading Loving Grief by Paul Bennett, a book in brief chapters, each of which ends in a poem, written after the death of his wife.  In the chapter, Coming to a Stop, he writes that the three times over a period of months his legs would no longer carry him forward.  He stopped. On a street, in an airport, on a hiking trail.  Later, he wrote, "those incidents of coming to a stop, those moments of stillness, struck me as early invitations from deep within myself to start new."

Here is the poem which ends that chapter:

Well. I was going to post the poem, until I read the copyright page (oops) which states that I cannot post it without permission.  So I won't.

What I will do is to post my own poem about stopping in my life.  Please note that each person experiences a death uniquely. I don't feel as if I'm in deep grief right now. Still:

STOPPING BY THE WOODS
by April Halprin Wayland

No snow.
No woods.

But I pause.
To hear the hawk.
To breathe my breath.
To hold this stone.

Alone.

poem (c) 2015 April Halprin Wayland.  All rights reserved.

I think I'm listening for the music to cue my next step.

I'll be ready.

Thank you, Tabatha, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

(So...the title of this blog?  You were expecting a parody of
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird?)

posted with affection by April Halprin Wayland

Wednesday Writing Workout: "The Stakes Should Always Be Death," Courtesy of Maureen McQuerry

Today I'm pleased to share with you a guest Wednesday Writing Workout on creating tension in fiction from award-winning author Maureen McQuerry. Before I tell you about Maureen, a quick reminder that it's not too late to enter for a chance to win a copy of the 2015 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market (CWIM) edited by Chuck Sambuchino and published by Writer's Digest Books. See the link at the end of today's post.

Now, about Maureen McQuerry: I was recently introduced to Maureen (via email) through a mutual friend. Her first YA novel, The Peculiars (Abrams/Amulet) was an ALA Best Book for Young Adult Readers 2013, Bank Street and Horn Book recommended book, and a winner of the Westchester Award. Her most recent novel Beyond the Door (Abrams/Amulet), has been named a Booklist top Ten Fantasy/SciFi for Youth. The second book in the series, The Telling Stone, releases May 2015. Maureen has taught writing to children and adults and loves giving author talks in schools and at conferences.

I'm hoping to meet Maureen in person when she visits Chicago in a few weeks. So far, she's scheduled to do a signing at The Book Stall in Winnetka on December 6 and one at The Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park on December 8. For more info, check out her website. You can also connect with her via Facebook and Twitter.

Before I share Maureen's WWW on tension, here's a little about her newest novel, Beyond the Door:

        Between his love of learning and his passion for Scrabble, Timothy James has always felt like an outsider. The only person who really understands him is his older sister, Sarah, and he’s also fairly certain nothing interesting will ever happen to him. But one dark spring night, everything changes.
A mystery of unparalleled proportions begins to unfold, revealing Timothy's role in an ancient prophecy and an age-old battle of Light against Dark. Together with Sarah and the school bully, Jessica, Timothy must embark on a quest to prevent the Dark from controlling the future—and changing the past. Can the trio work together in order to fight the ancient evil that threatens our world?
      The first book in the Time Out of Time series, Beyond the Door, is a fast-paced adventure that combines Celtic myth, shapeshifters, and a secret code in a coming of age story.

VOYA described the novel as "jam-packed with twists and turns," a sure sign that Maureen knows a thing or two about creating tension. Here's her Wednesday Writing Workout on the topic:   

Wednesday Writing Workout:
The Stakes Should Always Be Death
by Maureen McQuerry

Story isn't about plot. It isn't about character or setting or a great idea. It's about how events change people. We keep reading because we want to find out how a character navigates all the struggles that come her way. In fact the most critical component in reader satisfaction is the protagonist's arc. And notice I used the word struggle, because struggle is what changes characters. It's what changes us.

Struggle implies conflict and tension. Tension keeps us turning the pages. But how do you add conflict and tension to a story without an explosion or battle scene on every page, maybe without explosions or battles in your book at all? Tension begins with the stakes. If you've ever been told your novel is too quiet, it may be that your stakes aren't high enough.  The greater the stakes, the greater the risk, the greater the tension and the more pages turned.

What do I mean by stakes?  Stakes are what your protagonist has on the line. In a dystopian world like Hunger Games, the stakes are personal survival, survival of people you love, of a community, of the world. But not every story will or should be dystopian or apocalyptic. The stakes may be the risk of emotional death. In my MG novel Beyond the Door, Timothy finds himself in physical danger, the type of danger that might result in death, but he fears failing to complete his challenge almost as much. He believes it's his one chance to prove himself in the eyes of his friends. His self-worth is on the line.

For the reader to be concerned, risk has to be real and the protagonists' motivation worthy. Worthy motivations involve noble concepts like: forgiveness, love, redemption, self-worth. For example, a character who wants a part in the school play engages us when the stakes are based on a motivation that is worthy. She wants a part in the play because she sees it as a way to connect with her estranged father who was once an actor, but has rejected her or because she's never once fit in anywhere, been bullied or is handicapped and it's her one chance to find a community. If she fails here, she may never try again. Hope and worry for the protagonist create tension.

• A good beginning question to ask is what are the stakes for my protagonist? What is at risk? What will die?

Because a story is about how events change characters, you must have a clear idea of your character's arcs. In Beyond the Door, Timothy needed to evolve from an insecure observer to a confident leader.

• Ask: What is my protagonist like at the start of this adventure? What do I want her to be like at the end of the story?
• What will it take to get her there? What kind of gut-wrenching decisions, public humiliations, dark nights of the soul? What antagonists will she have to face?
• Does each turning point create change? That's what moving a story forward means.

Below are some considerations for assessing your story for tension.
 
Assessing the risk in your story:

• The risk of failure must be real and must be devastating—big consequences.
• Conflict must be external and internal—your protagonist must struggle in her mind and heart and with external forces.
• Tension must be relentless.
• A clear antagonist strengthens the conflict.
• The solution must require everything the protagonist has—the greater the risk, the more we worry.
• The solution should be inevitable, but surprising (Aristotle).

A few time honored techniques to increase tension, such as those below, will keep readers turning the pages.

Techniques to increase tension:

• Increase the stakes—as mentioned above
• Withhold info from protagonist—mystery novels are a great example of how one missing piece of information can put your protagonist at risk.
• Introduce doubt—Who can she trust? Were her assumptions faulty?
• Limit time—the ticking clock.
• Give and take away—just as your protagonist has everything she needs, the bottom falls out.

Whatever struggles your character faces, remember they are the engines of transformation and tension is the fuel.

Writing Exercise Text © Maureen McQuerry 2014, All rights reserved.

Thanks for this, Maureen. I've already used your questions to assess (and up!) the level of risk in my current work-in-progress. Readers, if you try any of these techniques, let us know how they work for you.

Meanwhile, don't forget that time is running out for you to enter the drawing for the 2015 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market (CWIM) giveaway, Along with tons of great information and resources, the 2015 CWIM features my interview roundup article, "Writing for Boys (and other 'Reluctant Readers.'" To enter, see my last post.

Good luck to all, and happy writing!

Carmela

Wednesday Writing Workout: Putting Together the Pieces of Your Story

Today I'm pleased to share a Wednesday Writing Workout contributed by the inspiring and talented author Margo L. Dill.

I first met Margo some years ago at an SCBWI-Illinois writing conference. I believe she'd already sold her first novel, the middle-grade historical Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg (White Mane Kids), but it hadn't been published yet. With today's post, we join Margo's blog tour celebrating the release of her second novel, Caught Between Two Curses (Rocking Horse Publishing), a YA light paranormal romance novel about the Curse of the Billy Goat on the Chicago Cubs. Margo has two more books under contract--both picture books--one with High Hill Press and the other with Guardian Angel Publishing. Besides being a children's author, she is also a freelance editor with Editor 911: Your Projects Are My Emergency! and she is part of the WOW! Women On Writing e-zine's staff. There, she works as an editor, blogger, instructor, and social media manager. When she's not writing, editing, or teaching online, Margo loves to spend time with her husband, stepson, daughter, and crazy Boxer dog, Chester, in St. Louis, Missouri. You can learn more at Margo's website.

Here's a summary of Caught Between Two Curses:

Seventeen-year-old Julie Nigelson is cursed. So is her entire family. And it’s not just any-old-regular curse, either—it’s strangely connected to the famous “Curse of the Billy Goat” on the Chicago Cubs. Julie must figure out this mystery while her uncle lies in a coma and her entire love life is in ruins: her boyfriend Gus is pressuring her to have sex, while her best friend Matt is growing more attractive to her all the time. Somehow, Julie must figure out how to save her uncle, her family’s future, and her own love life—and time is running out!

As a die-hard Cubs fan, I'm really looking forward to reading Margo's new book. (I'm hoping the main character solves not only her problem, but the Cubs' curse too!)

And now, here's Margo's three-part Wednesday Writing Workout.

Wednesday Writing Workout: Putting the Pieces Together

Writing a novel is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with my daughter. I’ve been teaching her to do the edge pieces first and then fill in the middle. This reminds me of writing a novel because writers usually start with an idea, maybe a plot or an interesting character with a problem—in other words, our border. We build our foundation for a story by piecing together our ideas. But sometimes, that beginning border, even with a few pieces filled in the middle, is not finished or even sturdy. Here are exercises I use with my WOW! Women On Writing novel students to add more pieces to their puzzle and come out with a strong, final product—a finished, publishable novel! (These can also be used with short stories and picture books.)

  

1. Create characters with internal and external problems.

The characters I remember best are the ones that struggled with both internal and external problems. What’s the problem your character has that he must overcome in the novel? Trying to raise money for a new bike? Figuring out how to deal with a sibling? Tired of moving around and always being the new kid at school? These are all external problems, and the ones that our plots are built on. 

But your character also needs an internal problem! In Caught Between Two Curses, Julie has to break two curses; but while she does this, she also struggles with her self-esteem and confidence as well as what love means. These are her internal struggles. While she rushes around to save her uncle, the events in the novel help her grow and work through her internal problems.

Just ask yourself these four questions either before you write your novel or even during revisions:

     a. What is your main character’s internal struggle?
     b. How does he or she solve it?
     c. What is the external problem in the novel that affects the main character?
     d. How does he or she solve it?

2. Brainstorm problems. 
If you find yourself with a strong border for your novel—an exciting beginning and an ending that will leave readers talking for years, but you are stuck in the muddy middle, make a list of 10 problems that a person can have that’s the same age as your main character and in the same time period. For example, my novel’s main character is 17, lives in Chicago in present day. Problems she can have are: pressure to have sex, temptation to do drugs, failing classes, negative body image, disloyal friends, etc. 

Once you have this list, are there any of these problems that you could turn into a subplot for either your main character or a minor character or sidekick? Subplots can often dry up the muddy middle and keep readers hiking to the end.

3. "Then what?"
The last exercise asks a simple question, “Then what?” Each time you answer, make the problem or situation worse for your main character. You don’t actually have to use all of these horrible situations in your book, but they may help you push your main character a little harder. Here’s an example:

     Julie learns a curse is on her family.

     Then what?

     The curse makes her uncle fall in a coma.

     Then what?

     Julie’s grandma says her uncle will die before he is 35 if the curse isn’t broken.

     Then what?

     He is 35 in less than 5 months.

     Then what?

     She has no idea what to do to break the curse.

Using these writing exercises while you are piecing together your novel will give you a complete story in no time! 

Thanks, Margo, for this terrific Wednesday Writing Workout. Congratulations on your new novel. I look forward to reading it.

Readers, do let us know if you try these exercises. If you'd like to read about where Margo gets her inspiration, check out this blog post. And if you haven't already done so, be sure to enter our current giveaway for a chance to win The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices (Two Lions). See April's interview with the author, Joan Bransfield Graham, for complete details.

Happy writing!
Carmela

Wednesday Writing Workout: Bestsellers

Analyze your favorite children's novel to see how it conforms (or doesn't) to the criteria identified by James W. Hall in Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Bestsellers (see my Monday post).  These features include:

1. A page-turning "high concept."
2. A controversial issue of the day.
3. A setting against the backdrop of an important time or place in history.
4. A main character ejected from his/her childhood home/country/Promised Land (e.g., Tara).
5. High information about a topic the reader likely knows little about (nuclear subs, the Holy Grail).
6. A secret society
7. City mouse vs. Country mouse
8. Grappling with one's concept of a higher power
9. The American Dream (or nightmare)
10. Rebels, misfits, loners -- characters who feel out of place among their peers
11. Broken families

We can probably discount feature #12 -- sex -- when examining most books is this genre. :)

To be honest, most novels that I can think of aimed at kids over the age of 8 or 9 seem to meet at least half of these criteria.  Numbers 10 and 11 seem almost universal.

What do you think?  --Jeanne Marie