TECH: Beware the Jaws That Bite?

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Original posting 25 March 2009

Silencing the inner critic?

Writer's Digest, November 2005, pages 36 and 37, offer an article by Jacquelyn B. Fletcher with the title "Squelch Your Inner Censor." You know that little voice in your head that says give it up, this is trash, stop now?

Fletcher suggests some tricks to help quiet that little monster. "The trick is to recognize the moments when the critic shows up and be able to combat its negativity in a creative way that deflates its power."

1. Symbolism slays the beast. Think about what your inner censor is? Gollum? A prissy little man in a black suit that's too tight for him? Maybe a monster with a million little fingers? Whatever, put that picture together, then consider creative ways to quiet it down. Get a gollum toy and shove it into the drawer? Poke pins into the little man in his tight black suit? Tie the million fingers into a knot?

One creativity coach recommends drawing the inner critic or sculpting it out of modeling clay -- then ripping it up and throwing away. This is especially good for damaging critics that attack the person and not the work. Separate your discerning critic that helps you during revision with the work and the damaging critic that undercuts you.

Another approach is to borrow from the method actors. Think of someone that you know who is extremely confident. Think of a physical action or characteristic that you can adopt from them. Sunglasses on your forehead? No socks in those sneakers? Go ahead and do it.

And then there's switchhitting. If your critic won't let you write at this time, maybe it's time to pick out pictures for your characters and settings? How about sketching?

2. Just rewards. Set yourself rewards for making the submissions, for keeping going. The feedback for writing often seems like a bed of nails -- rejection, rejection, rejection. Put yourself in control of the rewards. Every so many drafts, finished stories, submissions, etc., reward yourself.

"The writing life is filled with pitfalls. But the internal dangers are the most difficult to overcome. The goal of every writer is to continue writing even when you're battling your inner bad guy. By turning the avoidance of the inner critic into a fun-filled game, you can trick yourself into the only thing that will get you through -- action."

Interesting. Just who or what is that inner critic poking holes in your confidence, tripping up your forward momentum? And how do you keep yourself going?

TECH: Young adult writing

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Original posting 26 March 2009

YA writing?

Writer's Digest November 2005, pages 56 and 57, talks about teen fiction -- young adults. Liesa Abrams lays out several suggestions about how to write for the commercial teen fiction market.

"First and foremost, what makes a good YA book is a core coming-of-age story. No matter what genre -- from straight fiction to horror to fantasy -- the characters must confront basic questions about their identities and their relationship to the world."

1. You need a hook. A one line concept that makes your story stand out. This isn't just genre. Liesa suggests that "taking a story and adding vampires or flying cars could transform your idea into a horror or a science-fiction genre book, but it doesn't necessarily provide a commercial hook." [tink shudders -- nor would most genre readers or authors agree that such a simple conversion does the job. Just because your cars fly doesn't mean you are writing science fiction!] Liesa recommends thinking about your own and other people's experience for stranger than fiction stories. Think of interesting, quirky headlines. Dig out those hot button topics. What about wish fulfillment for teens?
2. Keep it authentic. Make sure that your teen characters' emotions and behavior are real. This emotions are close to the surface and intense. Teams don't diss themselves for being teens. In fact, one of the real dangers is teens that act like adults. Precocious, smart -- that's okay. But make sure they're teenagers, not mouthpieces for an adult.
3. Tighten it up. Commercial YA manuscripts average 40,000 to 65,000 words. Sure, there are exceptions, and post-HP, that length is more open, but keep it tight. "The story she's quickly with a minimum of extraneous detail." Scenes need to move the story forward. Get someone with fresh eyes to identify anything that you can cut.

A sidebar suggests some ways to make sure your teens talk right. First, read teen books and magazines; watch teen TV shows. Keep the dialogue fast-paced, with plenty of interruptions and colloquial speech patterns. Especially for older YA books, think about cursing and talking about sex -- it's all the rage. Be careful of graphic sex, though. And watch your cultural references -- actors and songs get old pretty fast. For that matter, slang dates itself is very quickly and often feels like an affectation. Get a teenager to check.

Authentic characters, a concept that people want to read, and a tight, well-written manuscript. Sounds like a good recipe for any novel.

So get out there and write.

The magic age of science fiction is ...