CBC Canada Writes and CANSCAIP – The Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers – have joined forces to celebrate two weeks of “Seusstivus” with Canadian children’s authors. Go to the CBC Canada Writes website for:
I’ve always been a little jealous of writers who participate in NaNoWritMo – National Novel Writing Month. Writing a novel in a month! A collective word count of 3,288,976,325 for 2012 alone! But my writing process follows a different path, and NaNoWri Mo hasn’t “fit” with it yet.
Then I heard about the inaugural PiBoIdMo – Picture Book Idea Month. Created by author Tara Lazar, PiBoIdMo is a 30-day challenge for picture book writers. Tara’s idea is “to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. You don’t have to write a manuscript (but you can if the mood strikes). You don’t need potential best-seller ideas.”
I’m not a picture book writer, but I liked the idea of creating story concepts, and decided to write a novel concept a day for the month of November. The experience has been enlightening.
Here’s what I learned:
I became more aware of the world around me, and I searched for story concepts wherever I went, whatever I did. I’m always collecting snippets, for example, an outfit of someone I see on the subway might appear on one of my characters in my work-in-progress. But this awareness of the world became heightened as I felt the pressure to write a concept a day, resulting in a fresh inflow of ideas.
I became more practised in the art of defining a story concept in one-sentence – with a setup, confrontation and resolution. My novel concepts each day were not always complete. Sometimes, I would have only a setup or only a character with no discernible action for her to take. But over the days, some of those concepts became more complete and polished.
I found myself revisiting themes over the month, exploring a similar story concept from different angles and approaches, even using different genres (contemporary realistic and fantastical) for the same concept. As a result, I felt I explored more thoroughly what would be the best story concept for a particular theme that I wanted to write about. I think this will make my future novels stronger, since I’ll have a more considered story concept from the start.
I remembered how to “play” with my story concepts, having fun with absurd story concepts as well as sensible ones.
My conclusion? I will do it again next November. Because envisioning a story concept is an important skill to practise. Because playing with story concepts is fun and enlightening. Because I emerged with two solid story concepts that I plan to write one day.
I look forward to NoCoWriMo – Novel Concept Writing Month – next year! Maybe you’ll join me?
How the windigo – a mythical cannibalistic spirit – is seen as a metaphor for the capitalist consumption of Native resources on today’s reserves.
And how the popular plot line of “romancing the monster” in fantasy literature – for example, in the Twilight series – can represent our desire to believe that people are capable of change.
It may be stating the obvious, but writing fantasy literature is not really about the wonderful imaginary worlds and their creatures that we enjoy reading about. Because authors are of this world, inevitably when we write, we’re commenting on the reality in which we live every day.
One panelist at the conference commented that, “Writing fantasy brings me closer to reality.” So an examination of the monsters we write about can show us the monstrous side of humanity. The dark horror of a gothic novel comments on the mood of despair, decay and disease we may find ourselves in.
I like to write both gritty realistic fiction as well as speculative fiction. But no matter which one I’m writing, it’s always a reflection of the world that I see around me.
Authors are tagging each other with a questionnaire about what they’re working on now. I was tagged by Karen Bass, who was tagged by Marsha Skrypuch. To read Karen’s answers, go here. To read Marsha’s answers, go here.
What is your working title of your book? Cut the Lights
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The director of a student-written Fringe Festival play is at odds with her cast, until the attempted suicide of the lead actor forces them to work together.
Where did the idea come from for the book? Sarah Harvey, editor at Orca Book Publishers and a YA author of nine books so far, contacted me about her brilliant idea for a new series of YA novels about the performing arts. Since singing, dancing and acting are currently popular among teens, she proposed a series — titled Limelights — aimed at 11- to 14-year-olds. I discussed a few ideas with Sarah, and we narrowed it down to two. I then picked the idea that I felt I could best write.
What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary YA fiction
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Since I’m terrible at remembering actors’ names, I’m not fit to answer this question. I would hope they would be quirky, brilliant, up-and-coming actors who would have the chance to showcase their incredible talents.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? It will be published by Orca Book Publishers in Fall 2013 as one of three debut books in the Limelights series. The series will also debut with novels by Tom Ryan, who published his first novel in 2012, and Robin Stevenson, author of over 15 books for kids and teens.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
This book took four months from conception to completion of a readable draft that I was willing to show my editor. This timeline is unusually fast for me — I typically ponder more and my books are usually longer. This novel is about 20,000 words since it’s intended to be tight, short and action-packed. But no matter the length of the novel, the plotting, characterization and so on still takes the same amount of time. Basically, there are no shortcuts in writing.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Although the popularity of TV shows as American Idol, Glee, So You Think You Can Dance and The Voice show that teens are into singing, dancing and so on, there are few books about the performing arts, and none written with younger teen readers in mind. One example is Bunheads, a great novel by Sophie Flack, which my teen daughter devoured.
Who or what inspired you to write this book? This book captures my love for theatre. I became hooked at an early age after seeing performances at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada, and I later took drama courses in high school and university. For me, theatre provides the opportunity to examine our world through a finely tuned lens.
This book also deals with a hard reality — the attempted suicide of a friend or loved one — which I’ve faced more than once in my life. This novel is my attempt to understand how such an event affects a tight community, like the actors and director of a play. Why does a young person with great potential attempt suicide? How does a community cope with it? How can the show go on when something so dire, so painful, occurs?
We all face trying times during our lives. Performing arts, such as the theatre, can be a great comfort and a great source of insight into how to move forward.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? For readers interested in the theatre, this novel gives insight into how to direct a play. What does a director do? How do you envision a stage production, manage the personalities of the actors and stage manager, and work with lighting and sound? Somehow, a production always falls apart weeks before opening night only to magically come together at the last minute.
Exciting news! Young Voices 2012 – the Toronto Public Library‘s annual magazine of teen writing and art is now available at your local Toronto library branch. As an editor of this magazine for six years, I’m particularly proud of the diverse talents of Toronto’s teens showcased within these pages.
Selecting contributors for the Young Voices magazine is great fun and hard work. I love digging into the pile of writing I receive, exploring the insights that these teens have put to paper. And I love hashing out who the finalists will be with the members of the Editorial Youth Advisory Group. Most of all, I love congratulating the contributors to the magazine at the Young Voices launch party – held this year at the North York Central Library on Thursday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m.
Thanks to my group of enthusiastic editors for an evening of friendly arguments, loud disagreements and finally mutual understanding as we came to terms over which pieces to select for the magazine. Thanks to the staff at the Toronto Public Library who give Toronto teens this fantastic opportunity.
I hope that acceptance in Young Voices makes the contributors stand a little taller and feel more confident about their unique voices and the insights they have to offer.
Don’t forget – it’s never too early to think about next year’s magazine! Check out the submission guidelines and deadline here.
On a sunny summer’s day, I enjoyed coffee and conversation with author Lena Coakley as she interviewed me for a profile in the quarterly publication of CANSCAIP – the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers. A full version of the article is available to CANSCAIP members, including a discussion of my works, writing process, where I get my ideas and more. Thanks to Lena and CANSCAIP for the article!
Favourite quote from the article:
“Sarah Harvey at Orca Book Publishers calls [Karen] ‘professional, responsive, flexible, insightful, humble and funny. In short, an editor’s favourite kind of writer!’”
Thanks, Sarah! I’m thrilled to be working with author and editor Sarah Harvey again, writing one of the first two books in Orca’s new Limelights series, featuring novels for teens about the performing arts. In my novel, Cut the Lights, the director of a student-written play is at odds with her cast, until the attempted suicide of the lead actor forces them to work together. Cut the Lights will be published in Fall 2013.
The 15-year-old protagonist of my latest novel, The Yo-Yo Prophet, would be over the moon about this demonstration of yo-yoing in zero gravity. Yes, folks, it’s yo-yos in space!
In his Science off the Sphere series, astronaut and chemist Don Pettit demonstrates how yo-yos behave aboard the International Space Station.
Yo-yoing involves the science of planes and gyroscopic stability, but taking it into space eliminates the effect of gravity, allowing for a whole new style of yo-yoing and even the invention of new tricks! How cool is that?
Don Pettit says, “I haven’t been spending as much time as I should working on my yo-yo training…. It just shows how I’ve got misplaced priorities.”
I keep a list of writing contests and places to submit on my website, which I update periodically. With the start of school, it’s a great time for young authors to explore where they can submit their writing – and artwork – this year.
If you’re an aspiring teen writer, you can check out the list here. I also have tips for young writers here. Good luck!
Writing as a career means spending long hours alone, building characters, brainstorming plot and revising over and over again. It’s no wonder that many authors have introvert qualities – a subject that I’ve recently enjoyed reading about in the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain. (Authors: You may find yourself in the pages of this book.)
However, being an author also means public readings, writing workshops, book launches, and online and in-person promotional events. These require extrovert qualities and can be challenging for some authors. It also means getting regular author photos taken – a task I dread.
I’ve learned how to enjoy public authors events, but posing for author photos still makes me uptight. I want a photo that shows who I am, but doesn’t make me look hideous. A photo that uses the talents of a professional photographer, but appears natural. A photo that will appeal to my readers.
This summer, I met up with Owen of Owen Captures, an expert photographer who could make me feel comfortable and take an excellent photo. Never mind that I was nervous for days before the photo shoot. Owen knew how to get great shots in spite of my nerves. At least I think he got a great shot. You can decide for yourself below. Thanks, Owen!
Check out recommended books from Canadian children’s book writers this summer in this article by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch from The Winnipeg Review, including two books on my shelf: Yesterday’s Dead by Pat Bourke and Time Snatchers by Richard Ungar.
CBC Canada Writes and CANSCAIP – The Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers – have joined forces to celebrate two weeks of “Seusstivus” with Canadian children’s authors. Go to the CBC Canada Writes website for:
I’ve just returned from four days at the the World Fantasy Conference 2012 with my head full of stories, ideas and full-blown debates.
