What I Learned From the Movie "Young Adult"

I recently saw the movie "Young Adult" starring Charlize Theron. The premise: a writer of young adult novels returns to her small hometown to woo her high-school ex-boyfriend. Only problem? He's married with a newborn baby. Not exactly the recipe for a fairy-tale romance. But the screenwriter is Diablo Cody, who wrote the smart and quirky movie "Juno," so I went to see "Young Adult" with pretty high hopes.

Well, suffice to say it didn't live up to my expectations. After the movie ended, a woman sitting in front of me turned around and addressed the theater: "What did y'all think? I was not impressed." Still, I believe there is something to learn from every experience, so here are some writing take-aways I got from "Young Adult" that might be helpful to your own writing, too:

• Write anywhere and everywhere. In the movie, we see Charlize Theron's character working on her young-adult novel in coffeeshops, restaurants, in her bed and at her desk. When she checks into a hotel, the first thing she does is plug in her laptop. That said, I was annoyed by the portrayal of her getting incredibly drunk every night and waking up hungover, yet still magically being able to finish her book. I think the drunken artist/writer is one of my least favorite cliches. I also didn't agree with the way the movie depicted the YA genre as shallow, uncomplicated, and easy to write. If classic books like Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird were published today, they would be considered YA.

• Be mindful of your details. Charlize Theron's character constantly eats junk food throughout the movie, and a lot of it -- a family-sized meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken, pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, liters of Diet Coke. Yet she remains supermodel-thin and looks down on other characters from her hometown for being "fat." There is no way she could eat that way and look the way she does!

• Avoid stereotypes. Charlize Theron's character returns to her small town, and her stereotypes about "small-town people" are reinforced. The comic-book lover is a "boring loser" who paints model action figures and lives with his sister. The women her age all got married at twenty and never left town. They wear tacky sweaters and have no idea who Marc Jacobs is. It would be one thing if this was just how Charlize Theron's character saw these people -- that would fit well with her character -- but that is not the sense we are given from the film. Case in point: a scene towards the very end, when one of the young women who lives in this small town asserts the stereotypes to be true: "People here are all fat and dumb." As someone who now lives in a small Midwest town, I personally know this is not only completely untrue, it is also offensive and, in terms of writing, sloppy. Push past stereotypes! Deepen your characters!

• Have your characters grow. This is perhaps the biggest problem I had with the movie "Young Adult" -- Charlize Theron's character doesn't grow or change from beginning to end. She is immature, narcissistic, and self-centered when we meet her, and she is the same way when the credits roll. It's fine if you choose to write an unlikeable character, but even unlikeable characters should have likeable sides to them. The best characters, in my opinion, are nuanced people. What makes me care about and root for a character is seeing them grow and change, hopefully for the better. Charlize Theron's character certainly had plenty of room to grow, yet she didn't take any steps forward, not even baby steps. I left the theater thinking, What was the point of that?

Have any movies -- good or bad -- taught you something about writing? I'd love to hear your comments!

Dallas Woodburn is the author of two award-winning collections of short stories and editor of Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today's best youth writing. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three years in a row and her nonfiction has appeared in a variety of national publications including Family Circle, Writer's Digest, The Writer, and The Los Angeles Times. She is the founder of Write On! For Literacy and Write On! Books Youth Publishing Company and is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Fiction Writing at Purdue University, where she teaches undergraduate writing courses and serves as Assistant Fiction Editor of Sycamore Review.

Checklist for Self-Editing

Here is a handy checklist from Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. This is a book I recommend to my editing clients and something I like to look at for my own work every so often.

• How many "ing" and "as" phrases do you write? Remember, the only ones that count are the ones that place a bit of action in a subordinate clause.

• How about "ly" adverbs. Both tied to your dialogue and within your descriptions and narration.

• Do you have a lot of short sentences, both within your dialogue and within your description and narration?

• Do you use a lot of italics? We mean a lot of italics. And you don’t use many exclamation points, do you?!!

• Are there any metaphors or flowery phrases you’re particularly proud of. Do they come at key times during your plot? If so, think about getting rid of them.

• How much time have you spent moving your characters around? Do you cut from location to location, or do you fill in all the space in between?

• How much detail have you included in describing our character’s action? Try cutting some of the detail and see if the actions are still clear.

• Take a look at your flashbacks. How often are you interrupting the forward flow of your story? Do you have flashbacks at more than one level—that is, flashbacks from flashbacks? It you spend nearly as much time in the past as in the present, take a look at each flashback individually. If it were cut, would the present story be hard to follow?

• Keep in mind what you’re trying to do with each paragraph—what character point you’re trying to establish, what sort of mood you’re trying to create, what background you’re trying to suggest. In how many different ways are you accomplishing each of these?

• If more than one way, try reading the passage without the weakest approach and see if it isn’t more effective.

• Do you have more than one chapter that accomplishes the same thing?

• Is there a plot device or stylistic effect you are particularly pleased with? How often do you use it?

• Keep a lookout for unintentional word repeats. The more striking a word or phrase is, the more jarring it will be if you repeat it.

-------------------------
A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in Northwest Washington. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, and the sequel, Follow the Dream, has recently won the national WILLA Award. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of Northwest Independent Editors Guild. She teaches writing and edits, blogs, and is working on the next books in her “Dare to Dream” series.

Stop and Smell the Daffodils

 Stop and Smell the Daffodils

It occurred to me a couple of years ago that I had missed spring.  I looked up and it was time for our summer beach trip and I had missed the daffodils.  In that moment I realized what a treasure I had taken for granted.  As kids we don’t notice how fleeting the seasons are; we don’t even notice specific flowers until we are about 10.  So I calculated that I had only had the privilege of really seeing daffodils so many times in my life so far and I had completely missed one of those opportunities. If I live to 85, I will only have the chance to see them another 20 times and that is not nearly enough.  Spring is the time of new beginnings; a time of budding trees, spring showers, the sighting of Red winged Blackbirds, and daffodils.  I will never miss daffodils again and I hope you don’t either. Right now make a list of all the things you don’t want to miss this spring and spend a few minutes every day noticing the gifts of the season. Then of course get back inside and do some writing!

Anita Tieman, Ed.D

Co-author of the Movement and More series of books.

www.Wholechildpublishing.com

10 Things Every Literary Hero Needs

My first draft of Odessa, then called Dragons in the Dark, could have given a garbage dump a run for the money in stink. I was so happy and proud to have the entire 600 word story finally written and out of my head. As you know, if you’ve read any of my interviews, the entire story has resided in my head for over thirty years awaiting the right moment and amount of time to pop out. When it finally did and I read it through the manuscript was obviously full of errors, bad writing and a fatal flaw. I had no distinctive main character—no hero or heroine.

Because the story is about a group of seven teens, I assumed they could all tell the story. But it didn’t work that way. I had to decide which of them would tell the story to the reader and be the hero of the book series. Once I knew that, I revised the story about eight times, writing it from Myrna’s point of view, until I got it right. The funny thing is I have a strong driving need to revise it again. I’m guessing that’s a common feeling for authors. And one day I might do it, who knows.

But I digress. My point is this: There are certain aspects of a hero/heroine an author must provide for the story to work.

1-Your protagonist must be interesting. There should be some quirk, personality trait, etc that makes your hero special. Why would a reader care about her and what happens to her? This was my first big area of improvement and why I need to revise Odessa—Myrna isn’t likable enough and she’s too white bread.

2-While the reader doesn’t need to feel sympathetic for your protag (as in the case of a detestable character-murderer, rapist, etc), they should be able to feel some empathy for them. Maybe a horrific childhood that created their current character.

3-Protags should act bravely.

4-As the ‘god’ creating your characters, it is imperative the author knows every aspect of each main character in the story. They should exist in the author’s head as surely as any living person. There are many character creation templates to help with this. I’ll post my own in my next posting.

5-Conflict, conflict, conflict. Your story must have a general overriding conflict, but so should each of the characters—especially your protag. If your hero has no inner conflict or problems to overcome, what makes them interesting enough to hold a reader’s attention?

6-In addition to or in conjunction with a conflict, your hero should have a weakness. They may not realize it at first, but sometime during the story it should come to light and they must work on improving that weakness while accomplishing their tasks.

7-All characters in a story, but especially your protagonist, must change and grow throughout the story. If you are writing a series, each book should have a character arc of growth which is different from that of the series.

8-Your hero must have a reason for doing whatever they are doing in your story. The protag’s younger sister was kidnapped; her parents were killed and the murderer is after her; she is trying to get someone specific to fall in love with her. Whatever the reason, without a purpose for the protag’s actions/journey, you have no story.

9-Make sure your hero is believable. No one is completely good or absolutely bad. Even angels and demons can have slight issues causing them to question their behavior. This is what has made the Romantic Vampire so attractive.

10-The war and final battle between the protagonist and antagonist should be satisfying and believable. Even in a Sci Fi story set in a far-away universe, the conclusion to this battle can be believable to the reader if the author understands human nature and sticks to the rules of world building they’ve created. If the story is historical, make sure you stick to the actual history of the event.

These are just some of the things I’ve learned over the past couple of years and have tried incorporating into my writing. And from personal experience as a reader I can conclude with this final nugget. If you have an awesome main character(s) your story doesn’t even have to be awesome because the character will carry it—but if you can have BOTH, you’ll have a best-seller.

Laman and Harpies are currently in edits and should be available soon.

Rebecca Ryals Russell is a MG/YA Fantasy Author of two series: Seraphym Wars Series for YA and Stardust Warriors Series for MG readers. There are currently three books of each series available via eBook wherever eBooks are sold, with several more currently in edits and others in the works. Follow Rebecca’s progress at Under the Hat of Rebecca Ryals Russellor Tween Word Quest.

Why I chose to self-publish

Like any beginning author, I wish I could have been published through a traditional publisher; and if I were twenty years younger with my manuscript and illustrations in hand, I would not have been so quick to self-publish my Bible storybook, The Creation. To understand why I self-publish my own book, one needs to understand my vision for Bible quilts.

The Creation is illustrated with hand appliquéd quilt picture blocks. My vision for my books is also a vision for Bible quilts as I believe that in using them children will be inspired to point to their favorite pictures on the quilt and ask to hear the story at bedtime. So while I am working to market my book, I am also studying a variety of ways to make Bible quilts doable as well.

Before I published my book I personally saw one editor's eyes light up when she saw my quilt blocks. I also received a glowing rejection letter from another editor who bragged on my book but then explained that they already had a children's book about the creation and they couldn't justify publishing a second book on the same subject.

At my age (over 60) with eyes that have always been weak, I know that I must be working on new book illustrations instead of waiting for the slow wheels to turn in the traditional publishing industry. And I didn't need to waste my time creating a book and illustrations that would be rejected because they already had something similar.

Because I am computer savvy as well, I took on the additional task of doing my own layout, and submitted my book directly to a book printer. I did seek the assistance of a qualified professional who found a great price for a book printer and pointed me in the right direction in other ways. I also received critiques and editorial assistance from several people on both the text and the illustrations before sending my files to the printer.

If I had it to do over, I would still self-publish. I would order fewer books for the first printing, because as a new and unknown author, store managers have not put my books on the shelves, even though the title is available to them in their book catalogs. I am still weighing out in my mind whether I should try POD instead of off-set printing on my next book.

Janice D. Green Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC

Carolyn’s Critique Guidelines for Happy Writers

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers

(www.howtodoitfrugally.com)

         

These are guidelines that will help workshop leaders and critique group participants achieve more rewarding group experiences. The guidelines were distributed to all those who joined a critique group for the Glendale Library system I founded. They are informed by classes I took and classes I taught for UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, years’ of experience leading critique groups, and some guidelines used by therapists in group sessions.

Following these guidelines should reduce a participant’s anxieties about plagiarism, sensitive feelings, copyright violations, fear of success, fear of rejections and other issues.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

With the understanding that all writing is unique and valuable, criticism will be offered as opinion only. Each critiquer offers suggestion(s) with no other intention than to help the writer who is sharing his or her work improve that work. 

           

With the understanding that all critiques are offered in the best interest of the work submitted, the author of that work accepts criticism without defense.

                       No one will be required to participate at any level of critiquing until she/he is ready. Observers may be encouraged to do so, but are welcome to sit out until they feel they can share.

Each participant reads from his or her work. He or she may suggest aspects of the work he or she would particularly like the group to address. As an example, if the work is not yet ready for a line-by-line typo hunt or grammar correction, the reader may say so. The reader may also choose to not to limit the group’s focus.

Critique Group Guidelines

1. As a guideline, each critique should begin with some aspect of the work the critiquer finds valuable or interesting. Suggestions for improvement are made after that. Please, no exception to this guideline.

2. Each work will be submitted one week, critiqued the next. The reader brings a copy for each critiquer in the group—usually five to twelve.  Double spaced. No more than ten pages (This requirement may vary depending on the size of the group.)

3. The author will read her/his work. Those who wish to offer suggestions will be allowed to do so. At that time the author whose work is being critiqued will listen only. She/he may take notes but may not explain his/her intentions. The reason for this is rooted in sound psychology; if a person is thinking about what he/she is going to say, she/he cannot absorb the recommendations. Also, the purpose of critique is to learn how one’s work is perceived so that changes might be made if the author wishes to do so, not to defend grammar, spelling, formatting, content or any other aspect of the written work.

~Guideline for accepting suggestions: Take what you like, leave the rest.
~If the writer hears the same criticism more than once, he/she should give
that suggestion more serious consideration. The author needn’t indicate
whether or not she/he plans to make suggested changes.

4. Each critiquer is given no more than three minutes to critique a work before she or he yields to the next critiquer. These time limits may be adjusted depending upon the number of participants.

5. At the end of each critique session, the author whose work has been critiqued may ask questions pertaining to her/his work.

6. When critiquers answer questions posed, there is, again, no defense of the reader’s work. New questions may be asked to clarify. The idea is always to listen and absorb 

7. Because a critique group works so much better with regular attendance we ask that each participant commit her/himself to one full season of meetings and to come prepared to critique at least one submitted work.

8. Any genre may be submitted for critique. We ask that if someone is critiquing an aspect of a genre with which she/he is unfamiliar, he/she say so. Suggestions made based on experience rather than taste only might be weighed more seriously by the submitting author/reader.

9. Much like a panel leader, your critique leader is expected to limit time spent on discussions when necessary, jump in with alternative viewpoints when opinions offered are different from accepted literary standards, and help the group avoid destructive altercations.        

10. During the first few minutes of each meeting, each participant is encouraged to share hopes and successes. The reasons for this are:
• Sharing is good experience for the pitches and other marketing skills that may be needed later on in the process of writing/publishing.
• Sharing gives others in the group resources that they might use in their own writing and marketing.
• Sharing—of the deepest sort—is what much writing is about. Sharing our successes and failures in a group setting is part of that process.
• Sharing gives others an opportunity to be supportive.

Note: Critiquers and readers should be especially alert when the material offered is not a complete work, say a chapter or a scene. Critiquers may be confused about things like timelines and characters. The reader simply takes that into consideration when deciding whether or not to make changes based on the criticism.

This is a group for all levels, those who are published, those who write with the goal of eventually publishing, and those who prefer to write for themselves and/or families. Each of us has something to offer others; each of us has something to learn from others. Each participant is welcome to form critique groups of their own from members within the group. These groups may be based on genre or skill level. But we ask that those who do so return to share their more advanced skills with new members as frequently as possible.

~Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning novelist and poet and the author of the bestselling HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers including The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or partnering with your publisher in a new expanded and updated second edition, www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo .

Route 6, Poetry Prompts, and Driving

Route 6, Poetry Prompt, and Driving

The summer after my youngest son Chris learned to drive and before he got his own car we would drive back and forth from Cape Cod together nearly every week end.

We were driving up from the Cape one Sunday at the beginning of the summer when Chris decided to turn on the radio. I usually listen to NPR when I drive back and forth, but Chris lacks my devotion to talk radio, and so we looked for some music.

Not surprisingly, if you're familiar with Cape Cod radio stations, we found nothing in particular of interest, and Chris ended up searching through my meager collection of tapes. At the time, about ten years ago, my car had no CD player and my tapes were largely oldies rock; we found "Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits" was the only mutually acceptable choice.

We ended up playing the tape on nearly every trip we made to and from the Cape that summer. It got to the point where even I could remember the words to most of the songs. We did make a half-hearted attempt to look for more tapes and didn't find much, so we just kept playing the same one over and over.

I really like Fleetwood Mac and that particular tape really has some great songs but I'm happy to say that my new car has a CD player.

The poem below was written in response to the April, 2010 day 25 prompt on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog. The prompt: write a poem inspired by a song, and to include song title and artist. Most of the songs in the poem below are from Chicago’s album, “Chicago 17.” In order to end the poem in the way I wanted to, I had to use one song from BoyzIIMen. The poem appeared in Summer, 2010 issue of Cyclamens and Swords .



Road Work

Cars creep along Route 6,
sign reads,
Road construction
Expect delays,
while Chicago's "Stay the Night"
blares on my radio.

Headlights illuminate
bits of fog,
rain blows through
open window
while Peter or Bill
sings "Remember the Feeling."

Swig cold coffee,
get a mouthful of grounds
as "Something About You"
drifts out my window.

Jacket's wet,
no place to pull over
while someone's singing
"Something was Wrong."

Car cuts in front of me,
I stand on my brakes.
Chicago's crooning
"Please Hold On."

Sirens sing
up the highway
while Boyz II Men belt out
"End of the Road."


Here's one involving Fleetwood Mac and Route 6 both:

Somewhere Along

Somewhere along the Cape Highway
Fleetwood Mac chooses lovers
on the car radio.

Somewhere along the Canal Road
between I'm starving and We can't stop
heavy air beats through open windows.

Somewhere forty minutes down Route Six
driving ten miles over the speed limit
lies the stone of us.

Margaret Fieland is one of six authors of the poetry anthology, "Lifelines" available from Amazon.com tinyurl.com/LifeLinesPoetry