6:56 pmAttack of the Forum
Today I spent the day at UVSC for the Children’s Literature Forum.
Book signing frenzy.I’d been looking forward to it for weeks. I was so going to be be in my element. I’d be surrounded by others with similar interests. It would be a melting pot of creative juices and well-wishing mojo. Or this is what I thought. And it was sort of like that… kinda.
I spent the day actively listening to the speakers, taking copious notes, nodding when someone said something that I could identify with. I went solo, though, and it seemed as if I was the only “single” soul in the building. Everyone else had a posse, a group of creative cohorts with whom to share the experience. I made a few fruitless attempts to break into the conversations of other groups, but everyone seemed tight-knit. So instead I just sat back and observed. And what I observed was a hundred people all trying to do the same thing I want to do. A hundred people who all thought they could write, just like me. A hundred people who think they’ll be the next big author, just like me. I was adrift in a sea of me’s.
I sat in on a few really great sessions. The first was led by Kirby Larson , who is a Newbery Honor author. She gave a few pointers on collecting research and finding your character’s voice. Her pep talk made me think that maybe finishing a novel and eventually being published was something I could almost do.
The second session was led by Anne Bowen, a picture book author and retired teacher. She gave fantastic insight into the structure of a picture book (something I knew nothing about before today), and also touched on pacing and text. It was great stuff. I was taking notes at a furious pace. My mind was going over how I could apply all of these things to my fledgling picture book. My rhyming fledgling picture book. It was at this point she pulled out the old quote about how it is rarely a good idea to try to rhyme, which took a significant amount of wind from my sails. Because I so love my rhyming story. It’s precious. I love that it rhymes. It has meter and rhythm. But now I’m not so sure about it…
The third session was led by Sara Zarr, the author of the award winning YA novel “Story of a Girl”. She talked about writing authentic YA material, telling us it was good to be “gritty” and “raw” when it lent itself to realistic teen fiction. There was more furious note-taking. It was also good stuff. Then there was some discussion among the people in the room — some writers, some educators — that mentioned “fantasy” was on it’s way out. Fantasy is waning. Apparently teens don’t want to read so much of that anymore. They want something more realistic. Which is great… because my fledgling YA novel is fantasy. So it was good to hear up front that teens probably won’t want to read it.
I know, I was totally throwing a pity party for one. There was an imp on my shoulder playing the world’s tiniest violin, just for me. I walked out of the last session thinking that I would have to scrap everything I’ve been working on for years. Start all over. *sigh* And no doubt the new stuff would be crap as well… (more violin).
I walked to the campus bookstore and licked my wounds by buying bags full of paperbacks.
Paperbacks are soothing to the soul, the smell of new paper and the smoothness of the cover… paperbacks are like a massage in book-form. I picked up the Sara Zarr book and a few non-kid books, as well. I also picked up “My Friend is Sad” by Mo Willems, because Mo is the man. If I ever met him, I just know that he’d somehow be like a long lost brother I never knew I had. (I imagine that we would have a secret handshake and inside jokes.) I came home and immediately read it to my kids, and it was met with truck loads of belly laughs. Like I said, Mo is the man. If only I could write like Mo…
Tomorrow I go back for another day of sessions and schmoozing. Except that I really need to learn to schmooze better. My networking skills are lacking. But tomorrow I will try to jump in more and let the imp play the violin a little less. And I’ll try to stay out of the book store.
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Sounds exciting - and any long lost relative of Mo is a friend of mine. Love his books.
Comment by Lisa Milton — March 21, 2008 @ 5:58 am
If this were a paper blog I would be highlighting your sentence ” I was adrift in a sea of me’s” It was nice being able to have some of my own feelings put in words. I really related to it. I’m probably going to use the line in conversations in the future. Kinda like that line I used from The Buchaneers, “My life is never as good I hoped or as bad as I imagine it to be.” I know that it is totally a self absorbed, feel sorry for yourself line but still very poetic and dramatic. Your sentence really struck a cord, a wonderful way to express your feelings. =) Thanks
Comment by Diana — March 21, 2008 @ 6:05 am
Sounds like a great event, with lots of great information. But, don’t get too down yourself. And don’t scrap the work you’ve done already. You just may be the exception to the rule.
Comment by Leslie — March 21, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
Uhhhh, fantasy is on it’s way out? Fantasy is NEVER going to be “on it’s way out”. Ever. Anyone who says so is a complete idiot. Cause I have a lot of clout… in that… area.
Seriously though, how are people gauging that? From what I’m observing, fantasy seems to be going MORE mainstream. Albeit most of what ends up in the movies and books is crap, and that’s what really gives fantasy its bad name. But there does seem to be more of a demand for “good fantasy” recently, not less (LoTR, Harry Potter, Narnia, etc).
Even so, I wouldn’t worry what a few lame wannabe writers have to say about it. Also I hope you don’t get caught up in tailoring your subject matter towards what you think will be most accepted. You know that you should write first and formost because you love to. That’s how all great authors are, and how all great stories are derived. Doing it any other way makes the story contrived and uninteresting. If people like it enough to buy it and read it, bonus. If not, you just haven’t found the story that connects with people yet.
Although I would find it hard to believe people wouldn’t like whatever you write, no matter what it’s about, as long as you keep it real… errr… you know what I mean.
Comment by Bill — March 25, 2008 @ 6:42 am
FWIW, I agree - fantasy will never be on its way out. You have nothing to worry about, just write what you love to write! Glad you enjoyed the session!
Comment by sara z. — March 25, 2008 @ 8:39 am
Expert is a funny little word that doesn’t mean anything. So an expert in writing is simply that… a title that doesn’t mean anything. Provocative sometimes sells, but more often than not just makes you look like an idiot trying to sell something. A rebel conformist is just another type of conformist. Write what you write.
Fantasy is going out? Splendid, less static. The people that love fantasy will have no other choice in book, and the readers will think to themselves “wow, never in my life have I read such a good fantasy. I guess editors are cracking down on writers that suck. If I ever had to read another Stephanie Meyer book I might just test out a career in book burning.” Suzanne you could write that same story twice as well as her.
And saying “there is too much rhyming out there” is like saying “kids get tired of repetition” …..yeah, no one should have be listening at this point.
Comment by paulyourlittlebro — April 25, 2008 @ 3:49 pm