I finished my revisions for this round of edits! I won’t lie, it feels wonderful. Of course I need to do a read through, smooth the edges, make sure that it feels right–but the kaki lion’s share of the work is done. (Don’t ask, it’s a private joke and I just had to do it.)
I thought about blogging all these amazing thoughts about revision that are going through my head, but I’m not ready. I want to hog them for a little while. This whole experience was monumental for me and I don’t think I’m ready or able to share yet. But I promise I will when it feels right.
The one thing I can tell you is that I’m proud of what I’m writing. I know that when Surface hits the shelves, not everyone will like it, but what I’ve learned is that what matter most is that I like it. And I do. And because of that, and the way I feel right now–I want to share it with you, but I can’t. So I thought that maybe I would share a song that is on my “Touching the Surface” playlist. I played this one endlessly when I wrote parts of the book…
Falling or flying?
I chose flying…
Tags: revision
I’ve been revising like crazy lately and feeling the need to share a little bit about it with you. Every writer has their own unique way of doing writerly things and revising is no different. I know this is going to sound weird and if you’re my agent or my editor…ahem…I’m not sure you want to read this.
Now, I’m not going to go as far as to say that this is my “method” because honestly, this is my first time getting first pass, line edits and I’m not a 100% convinced that this is how I would handle this all the time, but I’m going to admit something scary…
I never read through my editor’s notes before digging in.
*gasp*
Why–you ask???
Well, it’s complicated, but it always is with me.
First off, I was lucky enough that my editor gave my lots of warm fuzzies in advance. I knew going in, that she felt good about what I’d sent her. If she hadn’t done that, I think I would have been tearing through the pages, searching for approval. Because, ummm I need approval to prevent me from crumbling in to an incoherent, tear-stained, sloppy, dysfunctional heap.
Second, I had the first seven chapters a little bit before the rest, and I’d found a revision groove that I was comfortable with and just kept at it.
Lastly, I NEVER flip to the end of a story before I get to the last page and in a weird way, Anica’s notes are like a little book embedded within my book. I’m enjoying the excitement of turning each page and seeing how she reacted to my words. She writes interesting comments, funny thoughts and gives great guidance and I know it’s sounds stupid, but I feel like every time I sit down, we’re bonding over this book that we both care about so much. It’s such a personal and special interaction–I don’t want it to end. So I’ve been doling out the pages, one at a time.
Could there be a down side to this? Oh, there could be more than one. And don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind. I remember back in elementary school when I failed this test…
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NAME: ___________________________________________________________________________
1. Read all of the following directions before you do anything.
2. Print your name, last name first then your first name and middle initial (if you have one), at the top of the page.
3. Draw a line through the word “all” in direction 1.
4. Underline the word “directions” in direction 1.
5. In direction 2, circle the words “your first name.”
6. In direction 3, place an “X” in front of the word “through.”
7. Cross out the numbers of the even-numbered directions above.
8. In direction 7, cross out the word “above” and write the word “below” above it.
9. Write “Following directions is easy” under your name at the top of the page.
10. In direction 9, add the following sentence after the word “page”: “That’s what you think!”
11. Draw a square in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
12. Draw a triangle in the lower left-hand corner of this page.
13. Place a circle in the center of the square.
14. Place an “x” in the center of the triangle.
15. Now that you have read all of the directions as instructed in direction 1, follow directions 2 and 16 only.
16. Please do not give away what this test is about by saying anything or doing anything to alert your classmates. If you have reached this direction, make believe you are still writing. See how many of your classmates really know how to follow directions.
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*Sigh* Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Perhaps I’m smart to turn of the shoulds and embrace what works for me. Or maybe, what works today, won’t necessarily work for tomorrow and I’ll have to make some changes. But tomorrow isn’t here yet. And I like today. It’s working for me. It’s something worth enjoying, a gift–maybe that’s why they call it the present.
Tags: revision
Normally I would say that it’s to my advantage, as a writer, to turn off the TV and get my butt in front of my computer. More time writing makes me a better writer. But…there are exceptions to every rule. I know I’m coming very late to the game (literally) on this one, but I am hooked on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. I know all the rest of you brilliant folks are probably full of mixed emotions about starting the final season, but I’ve just discovered this amazing show…
I was thinking about the show and why I’ve fallen head over heels for it. It’s because it’s got character. And I mean that in the writerly way. This show knows how to write amazing people. I’m not a huge football fan, but I’m hooked because they’ve created characters that are real.
Every time they lay out someone that I DESPISE, it isn’t long before they’ve shown me a glimpse of their soft side. Suddenly I can see the chain of events or circumstances that made this ugly, mean person who they are. And I start to relate to them. And while I pull my hair and moan a lot, I realize that maybe I even love them.
Just as important, the characters who’ve stolen my heart from the very first moment, have ugly spots too. They show up like bruises on an over ripe peach I’d once thought was perfect. And then I realized that what I thought was love before, was only imaginary hero-worship–because now they’re real. Like me. And the line between the good guys and the bad guys blurs. And then I find I’m not really looking at them so much as I’m looking at myself, with all my flaws, and my big dreams and my need to be loved and to be forgiven. And a switch gets thrown and I’m reminded that these are how characters should be written on the TV, in the movies and in great books.
And we all want to write great books–right?
So you should probably start watching FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS with me.
Where do your best characters come from?
For awhile now, I’ve wanted to start doing teen interviews. I’ve had the urge to do this for a couple reasons. The first is that I’m fortunate enough to know some very amazing teens and they always astound me. The more I learn about them–the more I want to learn. In fact, I’m usually so impressed, I want to share them with the rest of the world.
There is a second reason I decided to do this kind of an interview–I write for teens and I’m friends with a whole bunch of folks who do the same thing. *grin* I know for a fact that they’re always looking for ways to get into the heads of young adults. As YA writers, we always want to know teenagers as readers, but we also want to dissect them and use their parts in our writing. I mean this in a completely non-bloody, kinda nice way.
I hope you love what can happen when a teen can be seen…
Brittany is a little bit unusual in that she is going to remain incognito while she is being “seen.” LOL! I’ll explain why–Brittany is a 13 year old blogger and aspiring author who doesn’t have any pictures of herself on the internet yet. (Smart girl) She’s staying anonymous until she’s a little older, but has assured me that she is not a creepy old man in a basement somewhere, pretending to be a teenage girl. Phew! Brittany and I got to know each other when she did a wonderful interview on her blog, Hills and Corkscrews, about my friend and agency sistah Monica BW. She intrigued me right from the start and I know she’s going to capture your attention too.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a 13-year-old writer who loves blogging and reading (and writing of course). I’m a big reader of MG and YA fiction, mostly fantasy and mysteries, but whatever I else I can find. I write mostly the same kind of novels that I read. I’m a pretty good procrastinator but I love participating in NaNo WriMo. I’m a dog person, a bit nerdy, and I have a newfound love of Doctor Who. 🙂
I know this is question over load, but I can’t help myself. How did you get into to blogging? Was it hard to get started? Do people take you seriously as a 13 year old? I personally find teen bloggers fascinating but I was wondering what your perspective has been?
I got into blogging when I followed Paperback Writer (the first blog I followed), and I eventually made a Blogger account. It was a bit hard to get started, since I had to find my blogging voice (which I’m still working on), and since I didn’t have many readers.
When I first started out I didn’t say how old I was. No one suspected that I was younger (as far as I know). I can’t really remember why I didn’t say my age, but eventually, I decided to in this blog post in August 2010. I felt a lot better afterwards, and it gave my blog sort of a uniqueness, since I was talking from a teenage perspective.
So I think people took me seriously because I’d already established myself as a mature, determined writer, before I told them how old I was. I know there are some writers who don’t take teen writers/bloggers seriously for a bunch of different reasons (like no life experience, or too young to handle the publishing business), but I don’t think people should consider teenagers as one big group. We’re all individuals, with different experiences and personalities, and I’ve noticed that most teen bloggers and writers are very mature and smart compared to average teens.
Hmmm, my perspective. I’ve noticed that adult writers are sometimes a bit nicer to teen bloggers (which is nice!). 🙂 I’ve done a few interviews with other writers on my blog and they’ve always been really nice to me. I don’t think being a teen blogger necessarily gets you more followers or anything. You still have to work like adult bloggers, maybe even a little harder.
Can you tell me a little bit about your own writing? Do you have a WIP? Have you ever submitted? Do you have a plan for your writing?
I’ve written four novels, some short stories, and lots of beginnings of novels. I’ve been taking a sort of writing vacation (yeah, I’m just being really lazy) since NaNo WriMo, but I’m about to start revising a novel that I wrote last summer, so that’s my WiP. I’m also working on a couple short stories to submit to contests. Two of my novels were written during NaNo WriMo and the fourth (my first novel) was written during a NaNo spin-off in January.
I haven’t submitted yet, and I plan on writing a lot more for at least a few more years until I try to get an agent. I need a lot more practice before my writing is publishable, so that’s what my plan is.
Wow–when I was your age I wanted to be a writer, but I never had the courage to pursue it the way you are at such a young age. Is it helpful, l that through technology, authors are so much more accessible than they used to be? I was also wondering if you let your friends read/critique your writing? Do your teachers mentor you? Or do you have a different method for getting feedback and improving your craft?
It’s very helpful that authors are more accessible. I’ve read lots of author blogs and they’re very inspirational and have some great advice. My friends don’t know that I write except a few of them and they haven’t read anything except what I’ve written for school. Some of my old teachers knew that I wrote because when I got a story published in a magazine my mom sent them all copies. 🙂 I guess I don’t have any real-life mentors or beta readers yet (and I don’t really trust my family to give good feedback). I used to be active on writing forums and post my work there but I’ve taken a break from that for now. When I need beta readers or critique partners I’m planning on joining Absolute Write and asking for beta readers there and asking for beta readers through my blog.
As for improving my craft, I try to read as much as I can, and I read a lot of tips about writing on the internet, in books about writing, and on other websites. I also realized that when I was active on writing forums and critiquing a lot, critiquing someone else’s writing really helped improve mine the next time I wrote.
I’m going to take a moment and pick my jaw up off the floor. I can’t believe how put together you are at your age and how much of a goober I still am at mine. So what do you do outside the world of writing, reading and blogging? Please don’t tell me you’re close to discovering a cure for cancer too!!!! :o)
Haha, it’s all right. I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing half the time! 🙂 No, I’m not discovering cures for cancer, just doing normal stuff. I’m not especially athletic but I like tennis, basketball, biking, and softball. Obviously since I’m a writer, I’m more of an artsy person than anything else. I love drawing even though I’m not so great at it, and I’m a big movie person. I don’t watch much TV but I’ve recently become a Doctor Who fan. I also play piano and I’m pretty busy during the school year with some extra-curricular activities. (As for school, I don’t really like middle school very much but I only have one year left!)
Sorry about middle school. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it gets better for you. There is a lot of conversation on the airways right now about the Wall Street Journal article about Darkness in YA literature and the concept of #YAsaves. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on this. I also like to ask my teen seen interviewees what us writers are getting wrong. Any thing we’re really missing or way off base on?
I hadn’t actually heard of the WSJ article until you mentioned it, so I googled it and yes, I have been hearing about the issue a lot, especially on agent and author blogs.
I’m sure there are a lot of people who are better at giving their side than I am, but I think that the whole idea of parents and librarians trying to protect teens from all these “dark” YA novels is kind of silly. I know I’m only in middle school, but I’ve heard things at school that are a lot worse than what I’ve read in YA. I don’t think the problem is YA fiction, but I also don’t think that including dark themes in your novel for the sake of being “edgy” is any good.
Anyway, my point is that in good YA, a lot of the dark themes (for example, the book Wintergirls, which deals with anorexia and self-injury) are realistic. Girls do become anorexic. Some of them die. It happens. The point of books like these isn’t to be edgy, it’s to show how certain things can affect your life (like anorexia). I think books like these can change lives. They mean a lot to people who are struggling with these issues, people who can identify with the main character.
I don’t think YA should all be clean and PG, as if things like this don’t happen. In the real world, dark(er) things happen, and that’s what some YA novels try to show. That’s all. (This is getting so long I could turn it into a blog post. Anyway.)
Onto your second question: I think there’s a lot of female main characters with one or two best friends that she’s known since kindergarten, and they’re all super-close like sisters and everything. Not everyone has just one or two friends, and I’d like to see some more variety. Also, I think teens are sometimes portrayed as a lot meaner than we actually are. 🙂
I love your answer!!!!! I also agree with you–there are some mean kids out there, but there are some really amazing ones out there too. Slice of life.
Wondering if you have a special writer that you look up to? Someone that would turn you into a blubbering fan-girl if you ever met them face to face. And why are they so amazing to you, so influential?
I have lots of writers I’d love to meet, but two people in particular would turn me into a blubbering fan-girl if I ever met them: John and Hank Green. Hank isn’t a writer but John is. They have a popular YouTube channel called the vlogbrothers, and I highly recommend that everyone check them out.
John and Hank are amazing and influential to me because… well, for lots of reasons. They’re proud of who they are, they’re entertaining, intelligent, funny, and genuinely good people. I admire them very much and I’d LOVE to meet them.
The good thing is that it’s possible to meet them, unlike someone like J.K Rowling. John’s latest book is coming out somewhere around May next year and I think they said in one of their videos that they’ll be doing some kind of tour around then, so I’m excited.
LOVE John Green and heard wonderful things about him and the Nerdfighters. An Abundance of Katherines is on of my favorite books evah! So last question–tell one last thing we don’t know about you…
Hmmm, something you don’t know about me. I have a fear of heights. I don’t like roller coasters or standing at the top floors of skyscrapers and looking down. I’m trying to overcome my fear, slowly. 🙂
Brittany, I look forward to watching all the places you go in the future. I have a feeling you’re going to be on top. Thank you so much for letting us get to know you better. If you want to find out more about Brittany and her writing, check out her wonderful blog
Hills and Corkscrews.
Tags: Teen Seen
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away–okay…up until January 2011–I was given lots of advice during the great agent and editor search. I ate up the recommendations like they were Dibs, those bite size chocolate covered ice cream bites. But there was one piece of advice that I found hard to swallow–don’t jump at just any agent and/or editor who is interested in you. Hold out for the right one.
Intellectually that sounded nice, but in theory that felt more like asking me to put a piece of gum in my mouth and not chew it. I wasn’t sure I could do that. Would I even recognize a bad fit if I found one? Luckily for me, the fates intervened and everyone rejected me until the perfect fit came along. Ha! My agent
Michelle Wolfson makes me grateful for everyone of those BIG FAT NO’s. And one of the many ways that I know she’s the perfect agent for me–she sold
TOUCHING THE SURFACE to
Anica Rissi, my editorial soulmate.
This is a small bit of advice, yet the hardest for most people (desperate for validation) to wrap their minds around. But I’m passing it to you anyway. Yes, things fell into place for me in the right time. I was very lucky, but I also believe that I was freakishly open to not having a timetable for success. I used determination to drive me forward, but I also gave myself enough flexibility and forgiveness to let MY journey unfold in it’s own way. I know it’s really hard, but don’t settle–ever.
