Done. Whew!

I finished the second set of revisions and the full synopsis on my new book today, so it’s back to blogging as usual.
I’m going to let the manuscript sit and percolate before going back in for one more revision. If I get a request from the agent I’m targeting I’ll go back immediately. If I don’t hear from her, I’m going to let the book sit a month while I work on a different manuscript that’s about half done.

I don’t know what the weather’s like where you live, but this book revision ended with the winds roaring. My house smells like dirt, and the sky is a nasty shade of red brown that accompanies 50 mph wind gusts.
On the bright side, it’s not freezing.
On the not so bright side, I’m sick. I don’t know if it’s the dirt or if I’ve picked up a a bug. Hope it’s the dirt!

Not a Victim: YA Saves

Dear Meghan Cox Gurdon,

I get you. I don’t agree with you, but that doesn’t matter. I get your fear. I get your horror. I get that trembling in the dark, looking up at the ceiling and praying to God almighty that your kid doesn’t go through the beyond belief nightmares in so much of today’s YA.

I get you because every year I see parents realize the truth of the world we live in through the eyes of their children.

Drug abuse, incest, rape, suicide, cutting, eating disorders, bullying, dating violence, pregnancy, abortion, adoption, gangs. They’re all there in the halls of the high school. Sometimes hidden, sometimes in your face, but there. Always.

They were there when I was a teenager, and that was a million years ago. They were there when my mom was a teenager a few years before that. They’ve been there forever, but the further we get from the age, the more we forget, the more we wax poetic about the “wonder years.”

The truth is the world is a dark place, but thank GOD, we’re  talking about it instead of hiding it away and pretending we’re all Little Women. Thank God we get to read about people who win against the evil out there, who find inner strength they never knew existed, who triumph and say I Am Not A Victim.

I get you because I’m a mom and my daughter just made it through to the other side of the teen trauma years. That time scared me, it scarred her, but in the end, we know those scars are what make all the difference. She claims them. She holds them to the light and says she can make it through anything, and she’s so right. YA encourages that mindset.

Are you right to want to protect kids and their innocence? Yes. My God, yes. That’s part of motherhood. Will keeping them from the darkness of The Hunger Games, et al do so? No.

I still get you. Do you have the right to determine what your kids are reading? Yes. Will you know for sure? No. I can’t tell you how many of  my students “weren’t allowed to read Harry Potter” but knew the books inside and out. Should you be aware one way or the other? Absolutely.

Dark YA serves a purpose. Sometimes that purpose isn’t so life changing. One of my students read a book about cutting and was able to cry for hours over her parents’ divorce. She’s not a cutter, never will be, but she connected with the emotional desolation of the character. Other times, the society changing purpose might not have been the intent of the work, but it’s still the outcome. Words like rape and incest don’t have to be whispered any more.

So yeah, I get you. I don’t agree, but I understand.

Find Gurdon’s article here.

NPR segment with YA author Maureen Johnson and Gurdon

#yasaves

P.S. Years ago we ran a package in The Chronicle about teen pregnancy. A reporter shadowed a new mom for two days. Another wrote a story about a girl who gave her baby up for adoption. Another wrote a story about a girl who chose abortion. Over half the faculty signed a copy of the paper and a note letting me know I was encouraging teen pregnancy by allowing my students to write the stories. One teacher came back with an apology and a card with this quote inside: “I may not agree with what you say, but I shall defend to my death your right to say it.” The quote applies here.

Prewriting?

Another night of writing. I wrote a scene I’m unsure of tonight. I like the way it played out, but I’m not sure I like it in the overall book scheme. Definitely feeling like this is the pre-write instead of the real thing.
That’s a different way of doing things.
I don’t feel like I got to my voice tonight.
It’s a busy week, but I’m determined to write every night.
Tomorrow: Church
Thursday: Teacher of the Year Banquet
Friday & Saturday: Regionals.
It can be done.

Maybe the key is just not talking about it!

Tonight’s writing was TOUGH! I write a scene I think is important. It needs a lot more development, but I moved on to the next part. Blah. Poor Addison. She’s torn between two boys, her mom, her step-mom, her life as it was and as it’s becoming.
Sharlene’s was way under developed tonight. She’s not nice, and she lost her edge.
I really need to work on that!
We finished the yearbook today. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really finished. Several scores didn’t make the book, but the deadline had passed. We couldn’t hold the pages any more. Makes me sad. Hopefully, the folders I’ll give out will fix that next year.
I’m feeling blah after tonight’s writing, even though it was 1000 words. I need to find my positive energy. I know it’ll come back as long as I keep working.

Maybe the real problem is I was reading this awesome book that ended up not so awesome. The writer went with the whole rape fantasy thing. I wasn’t expecting it, and I’m not a fan. In fact, I really, really have a problem with the whole no means yes thing.
Hate when I waste my time reading. It doesn’t happen often.

Great Weekend!

Now it’s over, and the yearbook WILL be done tomorrow. Whatever isn’t in tomorrow, won’t be in the book. The end. We’re out of time.
Great 18:26 today. We talked about forgiveness, and how if you don’t forgive those who’ve hurt you, you’re only hurting yourself.
Church was week three of 30 Days to Live, and it was wonderful.
I’m up to a little over 11,000 rough words on my new book, still untitled. I figure the title will hit while writing, just like Addison’s name did.
Today the suspense of the story amped up. It’s so much fun. DD agreed to be a first reader for me, but I’m not sure if she’ll like it or not. There’s lots of romance. And two boys.
No vampires, though. Just a guardian angel who thinks of herself more as a life coach. She sure is fun to write.

Awesome day

Today was a glorious day. The yearbook’s not done, and it won’t be done until next week because I’m STILL waiting on coaches. It’s my fault though. I haven’t been organized enough. And really, all but a couple of the coaches get their stuff in early. The late YB proofs are okay, though.
WHy?
My kids rocked today. Once again I remembered why it is I teach and why it is I love it!

ETA: Up to 5942 words. And today’s words I kind of like.

Telling, not showing, but words were written

4456 words total after tonight’s writing. A little less than what I was hoping for with development. I have lots of story work to do. Not sure about writing a skeleton first. I’ve not worked like this before. Very different.
Interesting plot twist came to me after I’d wrapped up last night. I sort of worked it into the story tonight. It’s lots of tell no show right now. Usually dialogue is one of my strengths, but even that is missing right now. I’m keeping a notebook with me all the time just in case those plot ideas hit.
I have a big meeting tomorrow at 4. Prayers appreciated.

“Think of me as an other-wordly life coach instead of a guardian angel if it helps. Guardian Angel sounds way too nice for a girl like me anyway.” —Sharlene

Two Potential Leading Ladies

Just finished writing for the night.
It’s still not great, but it’s better.
I’m okay with the no voice issue. Instead of looking for real story, I’m looking at my writing as a skeleton of sorts.
Developing my protag, making sure she’s truly heroic, and making sure my main secondary character is heroic too, even though she’s not a very nice person sometimes, until the very end when she saves the world.
I need to see if I can find my Jennifer Crusie notes on plotting and characterization from years ago. I remember she said something about antagonists not being villains but being the person standing in the way of the protag reaching their goal.
Need a refresher there.
I’m up to 3722 words after tonight’s writing.
And I’m liking the story. Still not sure if Addison or Sharlene is the protag, really. My writer’s group says it’s Sharlene, but I’m not sure. It’s certainly something to think about as I write.
I’ve got LOTS of plotting work to do. And lots of characterization work to do, but that’s okay. This is the first draft, and it’s a WIP.
I’m using the Donald Maass Breakout Novel Workbook. So glad you have to have written words to actually do a lot with it! That helps keep me writing.
I’ll finish the yearbook this week, so I’m going to get my students to help me some. I wonder what they’d do/want with a guardian angel if one suddenly appeared.
Bill, if you’re reading this, once I get to truly readable pages (long ways off, probably summer!), I hope you and Alecia will be my first readers.
Hi Mary C if you’re reading. It’s cool that you popped over from Mary F’s blog. I love Mary’s blog! It’s kept me writing for years.

Got some incredible news today, can’t share it yet, it has nothing to do with publishing, but it was like God was saying, “I’ve got this Mary Beth, chill out!”