Today, I welcome Robin Stevenson to my blog for an interview about her compelling new YA novel The World Without Us – available from Orca Book Publishers in February 2015.
What do you do when someone you care about wants you to follow him to a really dark place? Do you pull away? Do you help plan the trip? Or do you put your own life on the line in the hope that love will coax your friend away from the precipice? When Mel meets Jeremy, she thinks she has finally found someone who understands her, someone who will listen to her, someone who cares. But Jeremy has secrets that torment him, and Mel isn’t sure she can save him from his demons. All she knows is that she has to save herself.
Set in Florida, against a backdrop of anti-death-penalty activism, The World Without Us examines one girl’s choices in a world where the stakes are very high and one misstep can hurt – or even kill – you.
I was lucky enough to read a preview copy of Robin’s novel, and I found myself devouring it in a few days but pondering it for weeks afterward. I’m glad to have this chance to probe a little deeper in the novel and its intriguing premise and characters.
Karen: At the dramatic start of The World Without Us, Jeremy and Mel have made a suicide pact. In fact, they’re on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, ready to jump. Where did the idea for this come from?
Robin: I wrote that opening scene without having any plan beyond that point – I didn’t even know who Mel and Jeremy were, how they came to be on the bridge together, or why Jeremy jumped and Mel didn’t. Writing the first draft was all about answering those questions and making sense of that opening scene.
As I wrote it, I remembered conversations I was part of in high school where people would kid around about suicide, and I started wondering: What if one of my friends hadn’t been joking? What if an undercurrent of truth lay beneath the humour?
Also, I used to be a counsellor, and I worked with many people who were suicidal. So it’s a subject I’ve thought a lot about over the years. I thought it might be good to write about it in a way that hopefully would lead to discussions and increased awareness.
Karen: I think the book will achieve that goal. I certainly hope so.
The failed suicide attempt is set against a backdrop of protests against the death penalty in Florida. What sparked you to link suicide with the death penalty?
Robin: I tend to get somewhat obsessed with certain topics. When I was writing this book, I was reading a lot about the death penalty, life on death row, black holes, and lucid dreaming. Sometimes my current topics glue themselves to other ideas and become part of the story I’m writing, which is what happened here. It wasn’t a very conscious process, but I enjoyed writing about these themes together in this novel because it allowed me to explore Mel’s and Jeremy’s ideas about death in more depth. Suicide and the death penalty both raise questions about whether someone should live or not – and who should make that choice. And, of course, sometimes people who seem to have every reason to live choose to kill themselves, while others who have had appallingly hard lives desperately want to avoid death.
Karen:Both Jeremy and Mel are unique, richly developed and intelligent teens. Can you tell me a bit about the process of creating them?
Robin: Mel, who narrates the story, is bright, capable, and very much loved. She’s an only child who is close to her parents. She seemingly has everything in the world to look forward to, and yet she ends up on the bridge with Jeremy. In contrast, Jeremy has experienced a terrible loss, but he’s not suffering in ways that are obvious to the people who care about him. Suicide and depression are so complex – Mel and Jeremy themselves have to struggle to make sense of how they ended up where they did. I wanted to challenge preconceived ideas about who is at risk for suicide. I didn’t want there to be any easy answers in this story.
In terms of process, I think the characters started to take shape as I wrote about their interactions and conversations with each other, and with Mel’s parents and Suzy (the girl Mel babysits). I wrote a lot of conversations that didn’t make it into the final book because that’s one of the ways I get to know my characters. Mel was easier for me to understand than Jeremy. Her family is, in many ways, quite a lot like my own family, and Mel’s difficulties in accepting Jeremy’s ways of coping mirror my own struggle to comprehend and appreciate the different journey he is on.
Karen:On your blog, you’ve said that your books are about “figuring out who you are and what you believe and where you fit in the world.” What do you think your protagonist Mel figures out about herself and her world in this book?
Robin: Both Mel and Jeremy are reading Camus, who wrote that suicide was the only truly serious philosophical problem, and both of them are, in different ways, struggling with the absurdity of life. Mel is a kid who has been raised on both skepticism and activism. She believes that the meaning in life is the meaning you give it, that your life is the sum of your actions, and that what matters are the choices you make. Jeremy is searching for a higher power of some kind and looking for a meaning that Mel doesn’t believe exists. She feels Jeremy is running away from reality, ignoring both his freedom and his responsibility. But Jeremy is terrified by that freedom because it means nothing is holding him back, nothing is preventing him from letting go, and nothing is anchoring him in this world.
Mel doesn’t have a lot of friends, and her deep, intense connection with Jeremy is terribly important to her. She feels abandoned when Jeremy chooses a different path, and her anger comes from this sense of loss. I don’t think Mel ever fully understands Jeremy’s fear and despair, but she does accept that she and Jeremy are two different people, and that he has to find his own ways of coping and creating meaning in his life. She realizes that she needs to stop trying to control what he believes and instead make her own conscious choice to continue to be a friend to him.
Karen: What’s next for you? Can you share a little about your works-in-progress?
Robin: I’m currently working on the edits for my latest middle-grade novel. It’s called The Summer We Saved the Bees, and it’ll be published by Orca in the Fall of 2015. I’m also working on my first non-fiction project – a book about Pride Day that’s aimed at readers aged 11 to 14. It’s been an interesting process – a lot of research, reading, talking with people, sourcing photographs, etc. As a queer mom to a ten-year-old, I feel strongly that LGBTQ families need to be represented in the books our kids read – and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the growing body of diverse books.
Karen: You’re busy, Robin, which makes readers like me happy. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights. It’s been a pleasure, and I look forward to reading your upcoming books.
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m excited about my new novel for teens – Punch Like a Girl – officially available on April 1, 2015, from Orca Book Publishers. In it, a teen girl with a hero complex tries to rescue others, whether they want it or not, in order to avoid facing her own fears of assault. It’s a book that’s both personally and socially important to me, and I hope it sparks much-needed conversation.
Want a sneak peak? Please check out my new book trailer below. You can also read my post about Why I Wrote Punch Like a Girl. Enjoy!
In my workshops for kids and teens, they always have questions about where they can publish and how they should go about it. So I tell them what I can, and I offer my ongoing list of Where Young Authors Can Submit.
I understand how exciting and validating it can be when a story or poem is accepted for publication, and I’m particularly thrilled when marginalized voices get a chance to be heard. But publication isn’t THE goal of my writing workshops.
Writing to Understand Your World
Personally, I write to understand the world around me in all its complex, painful, fascinating glory. It maims us and then celebrates us. It gives us riches and takes them away. I find endless subject matter to write about by lifting my head and really observing what’s happening around me.
So I hope that, in my workshops, kids and teens can get a taste of that goal and its pleasures.
Writing to Move People
I also hope to share my awe of words – how they have the power to make me laugh, cry, or feel inspired. I’m continually delighted by the power of words to move me, particularly the brilliant writing that’s composed in only a few minutes during a workshop.
Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
Wonderful advice! Is there are loftier purpose for writing? In his letter, Vonnegut goes on to suggest the students write a poem and then tear it up. Then he writes:
You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.
Although it saddens me to hear about this alleged violence and harassment, I’m inspired by the women who chose to speak out against it. I also feel the need to publicly thank them for their acts of courage. They have renewed a global cultural conversation that is topical, relevant and much needed.
We now have mainstream news articles about rape myths, and calls to examine our relationship with violence against women. I find myself nodding as I read, and I feel emboldened by the supportive statements I hear from other women as well as the many caring men I know and love. The topic of violence against women is an important one to me, one I chose to tackle in my upcoming novel for teens — Punch Like a Girl (Orca Book Publishers, Spring 2015).
In the novel, I wanted to write about a girl with a hero complex who tries to save those around her rather than admitting she feels vulnerable. It’s an exploration of what it means to be a hero and a victim in today’s society.
Most of us know someone who has been bullied or abused. I wrote this novel in reaction to witnessing girls and women I care about who have had to face violence in both dating and domestic relationships.
Dating violence among teens is a big problem, affecting youth in every community across North America. According to the Toronto Star, “forty-six per cent of female high school students in Ontario say they have been subjected to unwanted touching, verbal abuse, pressure to have sex, bullying, or coercion.” In the United States:
One in three adolescents is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence — almost triple the national average.
Violent behaviour typically begins between the ages of 12 and 18.
(Source: LoveIsRespect.org.)
Punch Like a Girl is partly based on observation of girls and women I know and partly based on research. Several times in my life, I have helped people I cared about decide whether they want to report an assault, and I have respected their choices. Like my character does in the book, I’ve taken Wen-Do self-defence classes and volunteered at Toronto’s Red Door Family Shelter, which offers help for women and children who are escaping domestic violence.
In Punch Like a Girl, I chose to explore the stages of trauma and recovery. The novel asks questions such as: How do today’s girls deal with violence directed against them? How can we as a society overcome such violence? Punch Like a Girl is a taut, emotional look at one teen girl’s attempt to overcome bullying and violence wherever she finds it.
In 2013, when I was first connecting with my agent, Harry Endrulat of The Rights Factory, I asked him why he wanted to represent this book. Harry’s response? He talked about his daughter and the kind of world he wants her to be able to live in.
I admire Harry’s reaction, and it mirrors why I wrote this book. I need to do what I can to help make this world a better and safer place for the girls and teens who will become tomorrow’s women. I admit that my goal may be lofty and even impossible, but I truly hope they’ll never have to report the violence and harassment we’ve witnessed through the media this month.
In a recent CM Magazine review of my fantasy novel Bog, the reviewer suggested that “including a visual map of the journey might not have been amiss.” Since I’m a map-lover, I can understand the desire to map Bog’s world as well as his journey. In fact, I use maps to help form both the fantasy and realistic worlds I create. I also teach writing workshops about “How to Create a Believable OtherWorld,” which involve mapping a world in order to fully imagine it. I’ve witnessed how mapping can help writers enter their worlds, walk around within them, and bring back wonderful stories to write about. So after reading this review from CM Magazine, I decided to share my map of Bog’s world on my blog.
When I visit schools and libraries, I usually show the map I first sketched when planning Bog’s story. I tell them it’s a good example of why I’m a writer, not an illustrator! Still, it’s enough for me to begin imagining my character’s journey, which is what matters. (You can click on the map for a larger view.)
My map is rough and unpolished, so I asked my artist daughter – Paige Krossing – if she would draw a better map of Bog’s journey. To my delight, she created this wonderfully illustrated map. (Again, click on it for a larger view.)
So, to the reviewer from CM Magazine, and to all the readers of Bog, I hope you enjoy this illustrated map. Thanks, Paige, for helping to make Bog’s journey come to life.
Thanks to Jocelyn Shipley for tagging me in the Writing Process Blog Tour. It’s a fun way to connect with other writers and learn about how they write.
I first got to know Jocelyn when she was co-editor of the collection Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls (Sumach Press, 2008). My short story “Profanity” appeared in the collection, and it’s been a delight to get to know Jocelyn better since then.
Jocelyn writes compelling contemporary YA and adult fiction. A particular favourite of mine is her recent YA novel How to Tend a Grave (Great Plains, 2012), which was Winner of the 2012 Gold Medal Moonbeam Award for YA Fiction in the Mature Issues category. Her other acclaimed YA books include Getting a Life, Cross My Heart and Seraphina’s Circle. Please check out Jocelyn’s Writing Process Blog Tour post for a peek into how she writes. I promise it’s an interesting read! And don’t forget to watch the trailer for How to Tend a Grave below.
Now, to answer the questions about my writing process:
1. What are you working on?
I have several YA novels on the go. I’ve just finished final edits of Punch Like a Girl, which will be published by Orca Book Publishers in Spring 2015. This contemporary novel is a taut, emotional look at one teen girl’s attempt to overcome bullying and violence wherever she finds it. I wanted to write about a girl with a hero complex who tries to save those around her rather than admit she feels vulnerable. The tagline for this book is: “It’s not the girl in the fight, it’s the fight in the girl.”
In between edits, I’ve been writing a draft of a contemporary YA fantasy that also features a female protagonist. Since this novel is still in flux, I’d rather not talk about the premise. I’m afraid that fledgling ideas can get pulled off track when exposed to the full light of day.
Finally, I’m beginning to research a new YA novel idea when I have a lull in writing or revising. This novel will be partly set in 1967, so it’s involving research in order to discover the premise and plot. I’m nervous about this idea, since I’m not yet sure if I can find my way into the story. I also want it to be funny, which will be a challenge for me because I take life way too seriously.
2. How does your work differ from others of its genre?
During school visits, I tell kids and teens that I write to understand the world around me. So I think each of my works explores some knotty questions that get untangled through the story arc. In my most recent novel, Bog, the questions are: Why do different cultural groups end up hating one another? How does it feel to be “other”? How can we overcome prejudices based on differences? I try to encase such questions in an entertaining story, so the premise of this story involves a cave troll on a revenge-filled quest into human territory after his father is turned into stone by some pesky humans. When I’m writing, I want to entertain myself as well as gain insight. I hope my books provide both for my readers, as well.
3. Why do you write what you do?
I write middle-grade and young-adult stories because I’m fairly certain that my mental age is about sixteen. I like kids and teens. I respect them. The years from age nine to nineteen are fascinating, thorny and full of promise and possibility. There’s so much opportunity for a writer.
I write both realistic and fantastic stories because that’s what I like to read. I’ve always had an active imagination, so I have no problem envisioning trolls who inhabit Canada’s wilderness. Fantasy co-exists with today’s world for me. When I’m exploring a writing idea, I’ll ponder whether it’s best told as realistic or fantastic, based on what the story idea requires.
4. How does your writing process work?
My writing process has evolved over time, so I’ll outline what I do now rather than what I used to do.
I begin by honing the premise. I believe that, if I’m going to spend years on an idea and ask publishers and readers to invest in it, it must be based on the best premise I can invent. So I go through a process of writing notes about the idea, and I brainstorm as many premises as I can until I find the one that best suits my purposes. This also gives me a one-liner to sell and promote the book.
Then I draft a two- to three-page synopsis. Both these stages will involve concrete research as well as plenty of daydreaming. I write notes about setting, characters, motivations, possible plot twists, and so on. My synopsis is written in acts, not chapters. I break it apart into chapters during the writing phase.
Next, I write a first draft. During this stage, I try to write at least six days a week with a daily word count. I keep the minimum word count low (maybe only 200 words) because I find that regular daily writing is more important that quantity. My goal is to keep my head in the story in order to keep the writing flowing steadily. For me, writing a quick first draft results in schleck that can get me bogged down during revisions.
Once a few chapters are done, I ponder and revise them in preparation to share with my trusted writing group. After I get their feedback, I may revise again, if a chapter is way off track. But I also make revision notes for later. When I complete a whole draft, I get more feedback from fellow writers on the entire manuscript. Then I begin the revision stage. It’s always hard to re-envision a story that I’ve spent years or months writing. I also find it hard to know when a story is “done.”
Thanks for the reason to post, Jocelyn! Now, I tag fantasy author Lena Coakley to write the next Writing Process Blog Tour post. You can look for her post on her blog next Thursday.
Lena is the author of two successful picture books as well as the recent YA fantasy Witchlanders (Atheneum/S&S, 2011), which earned three Starred Reviews and nominations for the 2013 White Pine Award and Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award. (You can check out the trailer for Witchlanders below.) I’m particularly excited about Lena’s upcoming YA fantasy novel called Worlds of Ink and Shadow (Abrams/HarperCollins), which was inspired by her love of the Brontes and trips to Yorkshire. I hope we get a sneak peek into that novel in her upcoming post.
Thanks so much for reading, and feel free to leave a comment about your process.
At the request of a writing workshop participant, I’ve created this list of style and grammar tips for fiction writers.
When writing fiction, traditional style and grammar rules may not apply. For example, a character’s background or personality will influence the way he or she talks, even requiring grammar that is incorrect yet appropriate for that character. Still, there are some basic rules to improve your prose.
Use active voice rather than passive voice. In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb on an object. In passive voice, the object appears as the subject of the sentence.
Passive: The wall was hit by my car.
Active: My car hit the wall.
The passive voice is unavoidable when you don’t know who did the action.
Passive: My bike was stolen.
Avoid overusing “there is…,” “it is…,” etc.
Example: There was a man sneaking through the bushes.
Revision: A man sneaked through the bushes.
Use words like “said” or “asked” for speaker tags. Speaker tags are the words used to describe speech. Remember that characters can’t “sigh” or “smile” their dialogue.
Example: “I can’t come with you,” she sighed.
Revision: “I can’t come with you,” she said. OR “I can’t come with you,” she said with a sigh. OR “I can’t come with you.” She sighed.
Use adverbs sparingly. Instead, rely on strong verbs to carry the action.
Example: “Stop that,” he said angrily.
Revision: “Stop that.” He glared at her.
Use specific language rather than vague language.
Example: The man was somewhat taller than any other she had seen.
Revision: At seven feet, Frankie towered over her.
Clarify consecutive and simultaneous actions. Consecutive actions occur one after another, while simultaneous events occur at the same time.
Example: Unlocking the car door, she started the engine. (She cannot unlock the car door at the same time as she starts the engine.)
Revision: She unlocked the car door and then started the engine.
Avoid dangling modifiers. When a clause introduces a sentence, it needs to have the same subject as the sentence itself.
Example: Walking down the street, the houses were all run down. (This implies that the houses were walking down the street.)
Revision: Walking down the street, I noticed that the houses were all run down.
Last night, I had the pleasure of conducting a writing workshop at Eva’s Satellite, a youth shelter in north Toronto, through the Toronto Public Library‘s outreach program.
My favourite quote from the workshop is from a peer critique: “You create a world in my mind that I want to play in.” I so agree. I witnessed powerful writing. I met honest, interesting people. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
We started the workshop by talking about what they liked to write, which sparked one woman to read from her notebook. The others headed upstairs to get their writing, and we shared and critiqued their worldly observations, cleverly plotted stories, and death metal lyrics.
We then did two writing activities that I’d prepared. One was writing from a prompt using words selected from my word box of powerful and interesting words. We also wrote story scenes from photos by Gregory Crewdson, who captures a “single-frame movie” in each shot. Both times, we shared our writing and discussed technique.
We then critiqued more from their independent writing. I also answered their questions about the submission and publication process, giving a summary of how it all works. I suggested books about writing that could help further their craft. We discussed how to set up a writing group as well.
It was a fascinating group, and all the youth were strong writers who I encourage to continue writing. Everyone, particularly people who may be marginalized, need their voices to be heard.
You can read about how we first came to be published and our advice for aspiring writers. Thanks, Susan, for the great questions. Read the full interview here.
Ever wonder what trolls can do? Here’s a peek into troll abilities from my novel Bog.
In Bog, a cave troll with a grudge against humans embarks on a quest into human territory after his father is turned into stone. Listen to an excerpt from the novel here. Watch a book trailer here.
Today, I welcome Robin Stevenson to my blog for an interview about her compelling new YA novel The World Without Us – available from Orca Book Publishers in February 2015.
Robin: I wrote that opening scene without having any plan beyond that point – I didn’t even know who Mel and Jeremy were, how they came to be on the bridge together, or why Jeremy jumped and Mel didn’t. Writing the first draft was all about answering those questions and making sense of that opening scene.
