Jaded

Another day, another A-Z challenge post. 

J is for Jaded.

I have a fair amount of writer friends circling the query and submission drains, trying to read way too much into a form rejection. (Shh . . . but I am not the exception here.  I live in that drain!)  Publishing is a hard business to wrap your mind around, one that is filled with more set-backs and more rejections then it is acceptance.

I remember my first rejection, a simple "thanks for the look, but the project is not right for my list"  kind of note.  It stung like a b#%*h.  The second, the third, heck the twelve rejection rolled in not long after, and I was tempted to close myself off, become impervious to the pain of rejection.  It sure would have been easier for my ego, but it would have killed my writing.

How you say?  How did getting all riled up about a rejection . . . how did the well of tears help my writing?  Simple. I took all that emotion, the joy of getting a request to the bitter sting of the eventual "no thank-you" and poured it into my characters.  I infused them with every ounce of emotion I had, letting my pain flow through them and onto the pages.  It worked, and not only did I stay sane through out the entire process, but I created characters with a depth that went deeper then the black ink scribbled on the page.

So although it is easy to become jaded in this creative field, I beg you not to.  Use the roller coaster of emotions to your's and your character's benefits. Channel your anger, your frustration, your joy into them and you will be amazed at what you can create.

Itchin'

Monday means another round of A-Z challenge posts, starting off the week with the letter I.

I is for itchin'

Not the kind you get after you weed the strawberry patch in the garden to find out those weeds were poison ivy. Or when you wake up covered in hives because you hadn't realized the fancy restaurant put lobster in their baked stuffed shrimp topping.  Nope, this is the kind of itching you get when your manuscript is near completion and you spend countless hours a day researching agents to query.  Or when you type "The End" and seriously contemplate sending out just one query "to test the waters" rather then wait for your critique partners to ring in.

No matter what stage of the writing process we are in, whether we are finishing the first draft of our first novel or working on revision, we all struggle with need to just hit the send button.  Call that the hopeful side of us writers! But trust me on this one, don't do it.

Hacked Up

Quick A- Z Challenge Post today as it is the first relatively warm day we've had here in a while, and the outdoors is calling me.

H is for Hacked Up, which is the state my current manuscript -- Inside Out.  At last revision count, I had  lost two characters, added a completely new one, changed not only the time frame, but also the setting, and was in the midst of re-creating my MC.

How about you -- what stage are your WIP's in?  

Profanity in YA

It is F- day on the A to Z Blogger Challenge, and I am, yet again, about to post about a controversial subject.  Perhaps that should be my personal theme for this month long challenge -- Controversy.  But if it gets us writers talking to each other . . . brainstorming about different POV's and writing styles, then I am all for it.  So her it goes.

F is for F#*!

Alright, so the use of the f-bomb has been a source of a lot of discussion lately when it comes to YA writing.  The opinions run the gamut from totally unacceptable in any form to if it fits with the character's situations and the general direction of the dialogue, then it is okay. I have seen published authors, agents, even editors chime in on this issue and the consensus seems to be that so long as it is not tossed into the ms merely for shock value, then it works. 

I tend to agree, but I should qualify that by saying that all genres lend themselves to "language."  Would I toss a crap-load of profanities into a fairy tale or even a YA romance?  Probably not.  Would I ever put them into a MG or Faith-based novel?  Hell no!  But a dark, contemporary Dystopian or an edgy YA Contemporary -- well if written right and placed appropriately, then the profanities can actually aid you in character development, give the reader a glimpse of the character's internal struggle with some insurmountable, external force.

So weigh in guys, what is your take on profanities in YA literature?

Double Hit Today

Due to the crazy chaos I call life, it appears as though I have neglected to blog about the letter D in the A-Z challenge.  So today is a two for one special.

D is for Decisions.  Writers are faced with what often seems like an insurmountable number of creative decisions on a daily basis.  Which plot road to travel, which line to cut, which character to fatally flaw, which agent to choose, which piece of beta advise to take and which to toss aside.   Heck, even the names of our manuscripts and  blogs can wreak havoc on our muses.  So here is to the thousand and one little writing decisions that take our manuscripts from fantastic to extraordinary!

E is for Envy.   That little green headed monster that rears his ugly head every now and then.  Come on, you know exactly what I mean.  That post from a fellow writer that says she got a request for a partial when the same agent rejected you two days ago.  The announcement that your CP's book has sold in a two book deal when yours is still circling the submission drain.  The one that has you questing your writing skills and swearing at your computer.   It is that same devilish monster that makes us write better, faster, and with more passion then we ever thought possible. He may drive me to the brink of sanity and back on a regular basis, but I have envy to thank for pushing me harder and for making me a better writer.

Controversy

Third installment of the A to Z challenge is going to be quick and easy.

C is for Controversy . . . which apparently my post on banned books caused!  S'okay.  I am used to it.  As a YA contemporary author, I am frequently in the thick of controversy.  How my profanity is too much in YA literature?  Is the sex too gratuitous?  Are the issues to heavy?  The list goes on and on and on and on . . .

Banned Books -- Seriously?

Here is my second, and overly heated, blog post for the A to Z challange.  I apologize in advace for the tone, but I was peeved when I wrote it.

B is for banned . . . as in books.

I have blogged about this issue before, but yet again it seems to keep popping back up.  My teenage daughter goes to a small parochial school that prides itself on academic excellence.  There classes are structured, the expectations clearly laid out, and the teaching staff is highly credentialed.  My only complaint – they censor what the kids can read.

They kids are required to carry with them a pleasure reading book at all times, a useful tool to keep the them occupied while waiting for other students to finish assignments.  Without fail, I get a phone call at least twice a month questioning my daughter’s reading choices.   Funny, of all the parents in the school, it is me who always gets tagged.  Perhaps if I told them I was a writer . . . that half the books they have pulled out of my daughter’s hands I had beta read before they were sold, they would change their tune.  Then again, probably not.

Yesterday I got a call from the front office requesting I pick up my daughter’s book.  The literary offender – a popular, best-selling YA Shape Shifter novel that has a tiny bit of sex in it.  So I put on a smile, walked into the office, and asked for the book back.  Then I handed it back to my daughter and told her to go back to class.  I then, not so eloquently, told he administration that I . . . I, not they, would determine what was appropriate reading material for my daughter.  

Smart man he was slapped down what appeared to be a print out from the authors website indicating that the content (sex and language included) was geared towards the teenage audience.  Fantastic, because my daughter is fourteen . . . FOURTEEN!  She is a teenager.  He didn’t take to kindly to my comments so I was forced to remind him that To Kill a Mockingbird (a book that I love and think all teenagers should read) was required summer reading this past year.  This same book, incidentally, which has been the source of much controversy and has been banned form several school reading lists.  Hmm . .  ban a multi-million dollar author but give them to "To Kill a Mockingbird."  Good choice!

So where do we stand . . . not sure, but you better believe I am loading my daughter up with “inappropriate” YA Vampire books for school next week!

Mother Nature's little Prank!

Today is April 1^st and Mother Nature has delivered her own version of a prank.  Snow.  Frickin’ snow! In April!  On a more positive note, it is the first day of the A-Z Blogger challenge.  So here is the first of 26 posts, beginning with the letter A.

A is for Advise

I seem to be asking for and receiving a lot of it these days, offering little in return.  I am usually the calm and steady core, the one who can look at any manuscript and see it from beginning to end, write it without hesitation or fear.  But I have hit a stumbling block lately, and that steady core I rely on has come for you, my writer friends.  So thanks for the advise, support, and hand-holding.  I promise, if the time comes when you ever need a cheerleader, I’ll be right there, nudging you along.