New England SCBWI Conference 2013, Part Two

There was so much I wanted to say in my last post that I had to break it in two! Here were some of the other highlights of the conference for me:

-Our other keynote speaker was the amazing Sharon Creech. She spoke about  the power of words, how to find them, cherish them, and set them out into the world.

-Volunteering: I volunteered at the conference for the first time this year. I was way too shy the first two years I went, so this was progress for me! I worked at the registration table, not that I knew the answers to many of the questions! It was nice to introduce myself to so many new people. And c’mon, I got to wear the yellow volunteer name tag. The YELLOW one.

-Book signing: I love this every year. I choose a book for me, a book for each of my children, a book for my classroom, and a book for both of my children’s teachers. Gets pricy! The autograph is great, but the greeting and personalization are even more important to everyone… a real live connection to the author. I may have had just a few books signed by Kate Messner…

-Restaurant dinners with friends old and new: Catching up with people I’ve met before was great. But some of the best conversations were with people around the table that I didn’t know. You start with, “What do you write?” and before long you’re explaining premises and plot twists and your inspiration, and the other person truly CARES. There’s no glazed-over look like you get in the real world. Writers eat this stuff up.

-Find-a-Fit: Researching Agents panel with Lynda Mullaly Hunt: This talk was the perfect level for me. I’ve been doing my own research for querying agents, but Lynda had great strategies that I hadn’t used before, and also pointed us to some websites I hadn’t seen. And she was funny enough to keep us alert and jazzed up even though it was the last session.

Can’t wait until next year!

New England SCBWI Conference 2013, Part One

Yesterday was the last day of the NESCBWI conference. It was a great weekend as always. This was my third time going, and each year my knowledge and connection to other writers has deepened.

Here were some of the highlights for me:

-A panel on Edgy YA: Right up my alley. The panelists focused on questions like what is Edgy YA, the importance of voice, and if kids should be able to self-curate their books their own reading. The panelists were Scott Blagden, Adah Nuchi, Carter Hasegawa, and Rubin Pfeffer.

-A meditation/writing workshop, run by Laurie Calkhoven. We meditated for five minutes, visualized an aspect of our story, and then wrote for five minutes, pen moving across paper the whole time. I discovered a quick back story scene I hadn’t thought of before. At another point, one woman in the audience discovered that her main character had a twin! Unfortunately, some people (including me) had to leave for their agent critiques, which kinda interrupted the flow of the meditation…

-A Save the Cat! workshop, with Dawn Metcalf, based on the book by Blake Snyder. I’m a total pantser and I end up outlining after the fact, if at all, and then only if something isn’t working.  But it was helpful to see how very structured screenwriting is, and to see how that structure can apply to novel writing. I may not be a convert to this system, but it’s good to know about at least!

-Grace Lin. ‘Nuff said.

photo by Alexandre Ferron

Oh, and so much more…

I just edited my title to say Part One. More later!

Third Person? First Person? Crazy Person?

When I started writing my first novel, I wrote in third person. I’d never really written fiction before, so I assumed that third person was the way to go–most books I read were in third person. It seemed to work out fine. I wasn’t quite sure about the rules for how to show thoughts in the third person, but I knew I’d figure it out.

In 2009 (one year into the long process of that book), I went to my first writing conference, and someone asked me if I’d thought about writing my book in first person.

Why not? I tried it. I changed every Alexis to I, every her to me, every them to us. It took FOREVER.

And, to my total surprise, the tone of the story changed. (This is probably a big DUH to everyone else, but it was a fresh insight to me.) It was easier to access Alexis’s emotions, and to make her seem real. The language became less formal. “Alexis was disoriented” changed into “I couldn’t figure out where I was.”

I wrote one chapter in first person, and sent both versions to some reader/writer friends, and almost every single person thought that the first person version was more effective.

You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson after the first book, but with the second book, the exact same thing happened. Third person (to prove I could do it), a trial chapter in first person, comparison of both by friends, change to first person, language tightening, story getting better…

Lisa is grateful that everything she writes doesn’t have to be in third person.

Reading My Manuscript Aloud

I’ve been done with my first manuscript for a while, but recently went through some serious revisions after feedback from an editor. I had some recent full requests, and I needed to get it sent in! So, for my last step, I followed advice I’d been hearing, and read my manuscript out loud.

First of all, let me say it took a LONG TIME. I seriously underestimated the amount of time it would take. I thought a few hours one afternoon would do it. When I’d only gotten through 40 pages in 2 hours, I realized that audio books have lots of CDs for a reason. It took me a week or so, given that I only have snatches of time here and there.

I had a problem, though.  I almost never write at home. Too many distractions, especially child related. So I did a lot of the reading at Starbucks, inside a turtleneck, or with my back to everyone, or near someone with headphones on. I’m sure people wondered if I was totally crazy.

Here’s the most amazing thing. I’d thought my book was, finally, as good as I could possibly make it. But I made SO many changes when I read it to myself, almost all of it word choice. If I substituted a different word when I read aloud, I reread and usually changed it. I had changes on every page. I also had fun with the dialogue; since I know my characters so well, it was cool to act out their voices.

I also noticed a few tiny plot holes as I went, mostly sequential problems. I’d moved around a few chapters, but I still had a few inconsistencies.

I’m sure I’ll read my current WIP out loud, perhaps earlier this time, to get the dialogue as natural as possible.

Guess the experts know what they’re doing!

An Ode to Audiobooks

This is me on my 40-minute commute.

(Because, you know, I would NEVER be doing this:

That would be wrong. And probably illegal.)

This is me on audiobooks:

Ah, audiobooks. On my commutes (=no kids with me), I get bored with the radio, especially in the mornings when they jabber on and on about stupid stuff. And because apparently I’m NOT supposed to text on my phone while I drive, I’ve turned to audiobooks to make the driving more entertaining. And now I’m in love.

The advantages of audiobooks in the car:

-I can read/listen to more and more and more books! And of course my TBR pile is to the moon and back.

-I get drawn into the world of the story and forget that I’m on my way to work or kids. I’m surprised when I get there – it went by so fast! And I don’t want to turn it off.

-I stay awake.

-Someone reads to me. Ah, childhood all over again. Pass the juice and the blankie.

The disadvantages:

-The selection: I’m stuck with whatever the library has. But I’ve been re-reading/ re-listening to old favorites, everything from old Jodi Picoults to Jane Austen.

-The fines: I can never get through the CDs in 2 weeks, and I never remember to renew anything. But my theory is that I’m making frequent donations to the library.

-The narrators: So inconsistent. They can be so amazing (Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why) or so off-putting (Jodi Picoult’s Picture Perfect). I’m listening to Picture Perfect right now, and the narrator’s doing absolutely nothing for me.  But since I like the story, I’m sticking with it.

SO: What do you think? Do you listen to audiobooks, or do you just stare into space when you drive? Do you have favorites?

Six Sentence Sunday, 1/27/13

I haven’t been blogging recently, so what’s the easiest way to get back into posting? Post six sentences I wrote a long time ago, and hope that constitutes a post.

These six are from my first manuscript, Outside In. Alexis goes into her ex-boyfriend’s room at boarding school.

Being in his room transported me back into the world of our relationship. I walked unsteadily over to his bureau and stroked his comb, his tissue box, and his change. I picked up a quarter, rubbed it, and shoved it into my pocket. I stumbled over to his bed and lay down with my head on his pillow. His pillow smelled like him, musty and a little sour, precious anyway. God, I’d loved him.

2012 Reading List: Lisa Loves Statistics

So, I am looking back at my reading goals for 2012. I said I’d like to read 100 books (seemed attainable, since I read 104 last year) and that 50 or more would be MG/YA.

Well, I failed big time on the first: 77 books overall, according to Goodreads. I think I got sucked into Twitter a little too often.

I was really close to the second goal: 45 of the titles were MG/YA, which definitely helps me as a writer. Gotta read them to write them, right? Amazingly enough, I read more MG/YA than Adult this year! I think I’m aiming for 100 overall and 50 MG/YA again for next year.

You might want to stop reading right now unless you like lists, but here’s what I read this year, with a * in front of any book I rated five stars on Goodreads:

MG (6):

The Schwa was Here/ Neal Shusterman

*Out of My Mind/ Sharon Draper

Walk Two Moons/ Sharon Creech

Freak the Mighty/ Rodman Philbrick

The Penderwicks/ Jeanne Birdsall

Hoot/ Carl Hiaasen

YA (39):

When She Hollers/ Cynthia Voight

Tiger Eyes/ Judy Blume

Abandon/ Meg Cabot

Skinny/ Donna Cooner

*The Fault in our Stars/ John Green

*Between Shades of Gray/ Ruta Sepetys

*Between the Lines/ Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Purity/ Jackson Pearce

The Hunger Pains/ The Harvard Lampoon

Sweethearts/ Sara Zarr

Scars/ Cheryl Rainfield

Shine/ Lauren Myracle

Everybody Sees the Ants/ A.S. King

If I Lie/ Corrine Jackson

Cinder/ Marissa Meyer

Impossible/ Nancy Werlin

The Rules of Survival/ Nancy Werlin

This is Not a Test/ Courtney Summers

Second Helpings/ Megan McCafferty

My Brother’s Keeper/ Patricia McCormick

Tangled/ Carolyn Mackler

Bitter End/ Jennifer Brown

Hate List/ Jennifer Brown

Does My Head Look Big in This?/ Randa Abdel-Fattah

Smack/ Melvin Burgess

Delirium/ Lauren Oliver

The Liar Society/ Lisa and Laura Roecker

Devilish/ Maureen Johnson

Dreamland/ Sarah Dessen

Just Listen/ Sarah Dessen

How to Save a Life/ Sara Zarr

The Last Little Blue Envelope/ Maureen Johnson

Lock and Key/ Sarah Dessen

Why We Broke Up/ Daniel Handler

Will Grayson, Will Grayson/ John Green

Before I Fall/ Lauren Oliver

An Abundance of Katherines/ John Green

Uglies/ Scott Westerfeld

Daughter of Smoke and Bone/ Laini Taylor

ADULT (32):

Oliver Twist/ Charles Dickens

NW/ Zadie Smith

Saturday/ Ian McEwan

Bossypants/ Tina Fey

Zoo/James Patterson

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest/ Stieg Larsson

I, Michael Bennett/ James Patterson

In One Person/ John Irving

Love/ Toni Morrison

The Photograph/ Penelope Lively

Writing Great Books for Young Adults/ Regina Brooks

Summer Breeze/ Nancy Thayer

11th Hour/ James Patterson

Death Comes to Pemberley/ P.D. James

The Lost Years/ Mary Higgins Clark

Fifty Shades of Gray/ E.L. James

Fifty Shades Darker/ E.L. James

Fifty Shades Free/ E.L. James

Guilty Wives/ James Patterson

Lone Wolf/ Jodi Picoult

I’ve Got Your Number/ Sophie Kinsella

Private Games/ James Patterson

The Art of Fielding/ Chad Harbach

V is for Vengeance/ Janet Evanovich

Private/ James Patterson

Calico Joe/ John Grisham

The Lovers’ Dictionary/ David Levithan

The Litigators/ John Grisham

Cross Fire/ James Patterson

11/22/63/ Stephen King

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake/ Aimee Bender

Maine/ J. Courtney Sullivan

Whew! Did you set a dorky  awesome goal for how much you would read in 2012? How did you do?