New Agent for MG and YA...Plus Writing This Week

In case you missed it, Tara Gonzales, a new agent at the Larsen Pomada Literary Agency, accepts submissions for picture books, middle grade and young adult works. For more details, check out Introducing Agent Tara Gonzalez over at Kris Asselin's blog.  

How was your writing this week? Sometimes when I’m working on my own writing, it's like I'm a magnet for new strategies and ideas that I don't really have time to try out. This week I ended up with lots of ideas and fuel for my own writing. Here are a few of the things that caught my interest:

1) James Scott Bell at the KillZone on How to Work on More Than One Book At A Time.

I'm always on the lookout for ways to get more writing finished. After reading this, now I’m determined not only to make sure I finish at least one scene of my work-in-progress every day (my latest middle grade novel) but also to spend a little time working on a different project (even if it’s only doodling in my notebook while I watch TV).

2) People Who Are Not Like You by author Patricia C. Wrede, on how to write characters that are not like yourself.

It’s much easier to assume a character has some of your own background and experiences. I realize I need to examine my characters even more closely to make sure the non-me parts are believable.

“The greater the differences between the writer and the character, the more aware the writer has to be of how the differences affect everything else in the character’s life.”  

3) Since my new not-yet-started project has some fairytale elements, I found the latest Writing Excuses podcast on Retellings and Adaptations so useful I listened to it twice. I especially liked the idea of playing around with a plot that already works to create a new story.

 

Did you come across anything that gave you a new perspective this week?

 

Physical Description and Character

As I work on my novel revision, one of the things I'm trying to do is to create stronger characters. There are a lot of elements that go into this, but one of the things I noticed is that I have almost no physical descriptions of my characters in my writing (though I do have a lot of scenes showing physical reactions and what they are doing). Does it matter?

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King advises me to include only enough physical description to help readers picture a character. As a reader, I tend to agree. I actually don't like reading too much about a character's appearance. I find it easier to put myself in the character's shoes if I don't have to keep noticing our physical dissimilarities (or put effort into ignoring them). And since I write MG fiction, I'm always being careful not to include too much of any kind of description. For the tiny amount that I do include I'm thinking about:

1. Using other characters. I like having other characters refer to details about the main character (or another character). Of course, these details need to be blended in where they fit with the story, not mentioned just for the sake of mentioning them. (The cliched device of having the character looking in a mirror to describe herself springs to mind.)

2. Showing. The old show vs. tell comes up here again. It's easy to throw in an adjective to describe; much harder, but more effective, to show physical characteristics through what the character is doing or through reactions (e.g., brushing long hair out of their eyes to avoid answering a question).

3. Giving out details bit by bit. I try to avoid info dumps of any kind, including descriptive ones. As a reader, I like the way the character develops in my mind as a story moves along. Part of that is learning more about what they look like, or, even better, what is significant about the details of their appearance the author has chosen to include (e.g., their eyes are the same colour as their grandmother's).

4. Being specific. I figure that if I'm only mentioning a few physical details, they'd better be the most relevant ones. Something that will help readers remember my character and something that helps show their personality, without seeming too unnatural or contrived.

Do you have any tips for writing physical descriptions? How do they affect your reading?

Links:

I notice that The Bookshelf Muse has a great post on writing physical descriptions you might want to check out.

The Sharp Angle has some great advice and examples for describing physical appearance.

Darcy Pattison uses Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk to illustrate how to use interesting details to create characters.

Agent Mary Kole talks about character self-description, and you can find some great points discussed in the comments to the post.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: One Crazy Summer

Since I read so many middle grade books (see my 100 book challenge) and I blog about writing middle grade books, I thought I’d join in on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (aka MMGM) from a writer's perspective. The more I read MG, the more great books I’m finding. And some of them come from other bloggers doing MMGM (for example, see Shannon Whitney Messenger's blog).

Today’s pick: 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2010

Summary: 

Set in 1968, this novel tells the story of eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, who fly across the country to spend the summer with the mother who abandoned them seven years ago. Their mother is busy working on her poetry and doesn’t want them there. She sends them to a summer camp, sponsored by revolutionary Black Panthers, and leaves Delphine to care for her younger sisters.

My Take:

This is a great book to read for learning about how to create character—if you can stop from losing yourself in the story long enough to think about the writing. One of the wonderful things about this novel is the way the author has used details and shown the time period and setting from an eleven-year-old perspective. The opening intrigued me, since I haven’t read another middle grade novel that starts with a plane ride.

I loved what the author said in her acknowledgements, “I wanted to write this story for those children who witnessed and were part of necessary change.”  It made me think about what I want to say in my own writing.

Other info:

This book is a stand alone. It is a 2011 Newberry Honor Book, and has won several other awards, including the 2011 Coretta Scott King award.

Other books by Rita Garcia-Williams:

Jumped (2009)
No Laughter Here (2004)
Every Time A Rainbow Dies (2001)

For more, visit Rita Garcia-Williams’ website.

U is for Unlikable Characters: Can They Hook MG Readers?

 Most of the advice I’ve read about creating characters emphasizes the need to make them likable. Some people question whether that is necessary. After all, “likable” is subjective. What is likable to one reader might not be to another.  A character with only positive, redeeming qualities could be boring, since there’s no room for growth. Starting with an unlikable character leaves more room for character growth.

Still, I think that readers of MG fiction usually want the book's hero or point of view character to have at least some likable qualities. Eight- to twelve-year-olds have a fairly “black and white” view of the world. They notice when friends or their parents aren’t following the rules. And they appreciate knowing who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.

Kids also have a lot competing for their attention. They’re likely to give up on a book if there’s something about it they don’t like. And that includes the characters. So, it’s okay, and even preferable if the villain is or becomes highly unlikable. (That follows the rules.) But the hero? If you’re trying to create a main character your readers connect with, they need to be able to see a little bit of themselves in the character…and would you see yourself in character you don’t even like?

That doesn’t mean your main character can’t be the playground bully. But even if your heroine has some traits most people would say are unlikable, such as bossiness or a bad temper, there have to be reasons why the reader should care about her.

Have you read any MG books with an unlikable main character? Any tips on making your own main character more likable?

Links:

Jody Hedlund began a great discussion on whether the maincharacter needs to be likable, and some ways to create likable characters.

Over at Adventures in Children’s Publishing, Martina talks about the issue of character likability, with examples from The Hunger Games.

Juliette Wade writes on whether we need to like characters or just relate to them.

At the Blood Red Pencil, Janet Fitch uses examples to show how to help readers connect to a character that seems unlikable.

Roni Loren gives practical tips for helping readers connect to unlikable characters.

And more tips from L.B. Schulman, writing about creating likeable characters we love.

Pre-Writing Prep: How Characters Change

For the past few days, I've been getting ready to begin reworking one of my novels. A better structure for the story came to me all at once one day, and since then, it's been swirling in the back of my mind. I decided to put some of what I was thinking about on paper.

In the past, I've always felt that my characters emerge as they react to story events. But this time, I'm thinking more about what my characters want and what will make it hard for them to get it before I start writing. (I'm taking some advice from the Plot Whisperer on her YouTube plot series.) I'm also thinking about how my characters will change and what traits will help them or block them from making that change. Even though I know I'll probably be surprised by the way events in the story emerge and affect my characters, at least I'll have a starting point to guide my rewrites.

This made me think about how well I've shown my main character's wants and obstacles in my other novels. I think I'm much better at creating a strong best friend or sidekick. Maybe that's easier! This time, I'm going to focus more on the main character.

What do you need to know about your characters before you begin writing?

P.S. To go along with my new project, I decided to change the look of my blog to create some positive energy for my writing mind space.

Going Beyond Lists of Character Traits

From time to time I do more reading about the writing process to work on developing my skills (aside from the great stuff I find on everyone's blogs). Right now I'm reading The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman, since I always seem to have issues with my plots. The first chapter is about characters. It essentially helps you to create a list of traits about your character. I've never done too much of this in the past, because I always thought I'd "discover" more about my character as I write.

But here's the thing I never understood before: once you have that list of descriptions of your character, the way it really helps your story is to think about how each one of these traits could affect the plot. Time consuming? Yes. But, wow, it really helps you get a deeper understanding of your character's world.

Creating a Consistent Voice

As I revise my novel, I'm trying to create a consistent voice for my main character. Some of the strategies I'm using include:

1. Adopting a consistent style of writing throughout the novel that fits with my character’s background. While I’m not using a dialect (since I often find them annoying to read), my character does have certain phrases and grammatical structures that are typical of her (made up) societal group.

2. Making a conscious effort to write more simply. Though I tend to be sparse when it comes to description, I do tend to use long phrases, which may be more suitable for older age groups. This time, I’m trying to keep my sentences middle-grade short and sweet.

3. Taking time to think as my character would. Writing every day helps me slip into my character’s mind more easily. Even so, I sometimes have to stop and think about her experiences and background, to decide if what I’ve written really fits. I've had to cut sections of my novel or change elements that don't make sense in light of her past experiences or cultural background. I guess this is why we need to know as much about our characters as possible.

Compelling Characters: Readers Need to Care

When I signed up for the great blogging experiment about writing compelling characters, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be. For two weeks, I’ve been thinking about what to say and haven’t come up with anything besides the basic idea that readers need to care about the character. For me, this can include:

1. experiencing an emotional reaction related to the character

2. making a connection with the character based on a mutual interest or trait

3. wanting to know something about the character, like whether they’ll reach their goal or how they’ll get out of the terrible mess they’re in

Sometimes, I don’t even particularly like the main character in a novel, but if I’m intrigued about how they’ll solve a problem [i.e. I care what happens to them] I’ll stick with the story.

When I’m writing my own stories, character personalities emerge as I write my first draft. I rarely sit down and create long character descriptions or backstory. I know a few things about them. I add a slightly unusual hobby or trait. And I know what they want. After that, developing my character is a process of discovery.

I like to find out about my character through what they do and how they react to situations. Later, during revisions, I add to what I know about them to create deeper layers, or to bring out an interesting side to their personality. Are they compelling? I'm not sure. But I do know that they evoke emotional reactions from the few people that have read my stories.

Are Your Characters Like You?

Do you ever notice that your characters contain bits and pieces of your own personality? If the real me was ever in a book, I’d probably make for quite an eccentric character.

You see that woman at the side of the pool, hunched over and scribbling in a sketchbook while the kids are having their swimming lesson? Or that crazy lady hunting for snails in her front yard while other people in the neighbourhood are sitting on their porches enjoying the evening? She actually rejects watching an episode of Glee to type stuff on the computer. And she drags home huge bags of books from the library every week. Weird.

Luckily, I’m creating the characters in my books, so I can put in a few non-eccentric qualities of my personality and exaggerate the traits I like. You know, like magic. Or super powers. Hmm. I definitely see the appeal of writing fantasy. Of course, sometimes parts of my personality emerge unintentionally. (I swear that mean character is nothing like the real me.)

Hearing Character Voices

Sometimes I hear writers talking about how their characters tell them things. That hasn’t happened to me (yet), but it always makes me wonder how the character’s voices sound. You know how, when you record yourself speaking and play it back, it sounds different than you always thought?

I don’t often consciously think about what my character’s voices sound like. Are their voices high-pitched and squeaky or deep and gruff? It mostly doesn’t matter. I’ve noticed that when I read, I form my own mental soundtrack for a character’s dialogue, whether the writing describes it to me or not. I’ve always tried to avoid writing dialogue with accents or slang, again because of my reading preferences (too much is hard to read).

Lately, a few of my characters are developing accents when I hear their dialogue in my head. Weird, in a good way. Since it’s the first draft, I’m trying to record some of it, though I have no idea how to “write an accent”.

Writing Characters You Don't Like

I recently read The Thief by Meghan Whalen Turner. This story hooked me, even though during the first half of the book I didn’t particularly like the MC--he seemed to be always complaining. So what kept me reading? The story (especially the challenges the MC faced in trying to achieve his goal) and the interesting interplay of characters and personalities as the MC became friendly with his captors. The book was a satisfying read--and had an awesome, unexpected twist.

However, it made me think about the process of creating characters. For most of my characters, there’s something about them I like. For the ones I don’t, I tend to exaggerate what I perceive as “negative” qualities. I have a feeling that these more “negative” characters in my stories are not as fully realized as the others. Because I don’t like them, I find it harder to give them fully rounded personalities. Any thoughts or tips?

Creating Compelling Characters

One of my critique partners, Christina Farley, posted some great links that got me thinking about how I create my characters. I don't plan too much about them in advance. I jot down a few key characteristics, their family and friends, a name. I think about what they want, of course, since that's often the heart of the novel. But mostly, the rest of what makes my characters emerges as the story develops.

That's okay, for a first draft, which for me is all about getting a storyline that works. Now I'm thinking that the second draft really should be all about the characters.  I need to make sure to:

1. Bring out their unique or quirky qualities to make them memorable.
2. Make sure everything they say and do is consistent with their personalities (they are not necessarily the same as mine, which means I might need to consciously think about this instead of just letting it happen).
3. Include their emotional reactions.
4. Take a few risks, reaching beyond my own comfort zone.

If I don't connect with the main character when I'm reading, a book just doesn't capture my attention. Paying more attention to character is a different way for me to think about revising, but definitely important.

Quick Writing Link: The Ideal Middle Grade Reader

I loved this description of a middle grade reader from guest poster Suzanne Selfours over at Cynsations. It reminded me of why I love writing MG fiction. Like MG readers, I like to believe that everything (including mermaids, invisible creatures, books that talk) is possible in the world of stories. Occasionally, I do wonder if there is a monster lurking in the hallway late at night. And I'm wondering what my superpower is, since I'm sure I have one too.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

#30. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

I can see why this novel was a Newberry Honor Book. I haven't read many historical novels for MG readers, but this one created a complete picture of life in 1899 as a backdrop for Callie Vee's story of finding out what she wants out of life (and standing up for it). I loved the way Callie's relationship with her grandfather developed through their love of science. I loved the attention to detail in this book, and the way the words flowed easily across the page.

Although I got my copy from the public library, this is a book I'll consider adding to my personal bookshelf.  I think there is a lot to be learned from it about writing dialogue without drawing attention to dialogue tags and building character through the use of specific details. I'll be reading this book again, because it is so rich it's impossible to absorb it all the first time.

Quick Writing Link: A Painful Perspective

I'd never thought of looking at my novel from the point of view of how much emotional pain the main character is feeling, but over on Fiction Notes, Darcy Pattison writes about how a pain scale might help with plotting.

I do think that if you can make your reader feel the pain that your characters are feeling, than your reader is going to be immersed in your story.