by

JJ

___

Lately I’ve been preparing for a pretty big life move, and for the past few weeks or so I’ve been packing up a storm. Some things are relatively easy to pack (clothes, shoes, etc.) but I’ve spent the most hours and the most agony over what to do with my books.

I’ve always had a bit of a book hoarding problem (don’t we all?) but I knew that I had to be utterly ruthless when it came to deciding what to take and what to donate. No more “Oh I’ll get to it later” or “Maybe I’ll read it again”. No more excuses. If I hadn’t read it in over a year, or if I hadn’t reread at least twice, it was going to get cut.

It was fairly easy to cull my adult novels; I find grown-ups boring for the most part, even though I am one myself. Gone were the literary tomes I felt I should read but didn’t enjoy, gone were the bestselling novels that I felt obligated to know about but didn’t care. Gone, gone, gone. I was feeling pretty good; I managed to get rid of about 50% of my adult bookcases. But what I lingered over, what I agonized over, were the books I read when I was a child, the age I first discovered the joy of reading.

I think most readers have an age when they were transformed by reading. For me, it was the years between 8 and 14 years of age, the age when I first read Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, Brian Jacques’ Redwall books, Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart series, and so many more. It was these books I could not bear to let go, even if the pages were crumbling, even if I hadn’t cracked open a Tamora Pierce in more than a year, even if I hadn’t reread Madeleine L’Engle’s Time quartet all the way through more than once. I just couldn’t bear to let go of these books. Even now the act of merely holding my battered mass market copy of Mariel of Redwall brings with it such a strong sense memory of what I was doing when I read it for the first time: sitting in my grandmother’s room in our house in Eagle Rock, California with its grey-green granite floor, feeling its cool stone beneath my bare feet, the only bearable place in our un-air-conditioned 1970s concrete house that sizzling summer of 1995.

Even adult books I read during this age of transformation managed to escape the donation pile. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant—if I had read these as an adult, I don’t think I would have been as moved by them as I was when I was 14. I think the books I read and loved during this formative age define and characterize the books I seek now.

What about you? Do you have an age where reading transformed you? Do you think this affects what you like to read or what you like to write now?

___

S. Jae-Jones (called JJ)’s emotional growth was stunted at the age of 12, the age when adventures were imminent and romance just over the horizon. Who wants to read about bills, midlife crises, and infidelity? If that’s what it means to be an adult, no thank you! Other places to find JJ include Twitter, Tumblr, and her blog.

by

Alex Bracken

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This month’s question came to me through Tumblr anonymously, and I have a feeling it’s been on a few of your minds! As always, I’m happy to take questions here in the comments, but you’re more than welcome to email me if you’d like to ask privately. I’ll always double-check to make sure it’s okay to post the question here.

From Anon:

Could you talk about being an Editorial Assistant? That’s my dream job, but I always hear that you don’t actually edit or acquire and that a lot of it is administrative.  And maybe this is a little too personal (feel free to ignore!), but why did you switch to marketing?

Unsurprisingly, editorial assistant positions are some of the most competitive, fiercely sought-after positions in the industry. It makes sense–when you think of publishing, what’s the first job you think of? And how many glamorized instances of it have you seen on TV and in the movies?

That’s why I always feel like a jerk saying I actually didn’t apply for my editorial assistant job! In fact, I spent most of the Columbia Publishing Course telling everyone that I didn’t want to be an editorial assistant, would never want to be one, and I wasn’t actually applying for any of those positions. See, I’ve always understood that I’m not a particularly strong editor (especially as far as copyediting goes), and I was reluctant to prove myself right. But then I got the phone call from HR about coming in to interview… and it was in children’s publishing… and I was two weeks out of the course totally jobless.  So after meeting my supervisor and seeing what kinds of books she published, I accepted the job when she offered it. I don’t regret my time as an EdAss for a second, but over time I did realize that I needed a better balance between my day job, my writing career, and, you know, my fledgling social life. So to answer your last question off the bat, I switched to the career I had been after from the beginning (marketing), and one that would hopefully provide a more 9-5 work schedule so I could write after work and on the weekends.

Speaking very generally, most editorial assistant positions are VERY administrative, but the degree of it depends on who your supervisor is. For instance, my boss was a bit more old school and needed someone to maintain her calendar for her, answer her phone, schedule her lunches, do mailing, copying, etc. A handful of the other assistants did some of those tasks, but not all of them.

There’s quite a bit of information tracking as well. I controlled our team’s time-off calendar, tracked submissions, returned picture book art, and routed passes of manuscripts/covers/marketing materials between departments. If your supervisor is looking to acquire a project, you will also be creating P&Ls (profit and loss statements, which factor in advance, estimated sales, potential production costs, etc. and tell you if you’re actually going to turn a profit on an acquisition) and handling contracts and amendments.  This is the part of the job that requires you to be timely and organized–or at least good at remembering to put all of your tasks in your Outlook calendar! You have to get the authors their payments and finished copies on time!  You have to make sure you’re reporting all acquisitions to the right people! You have to remember when all of those important meetings are to pull the information your supervisor will need!

Aside from administrative tasks, chances are you’ll be reading a good chunk of the manuscripts coming to your boss for consideration. You’ll be giving him or her feedback and, eventually, working on editorial letters alongside him or her. But it is a rare thing for an editor of any level to be able to sit at their desks and read or focus entirely only editing–most of it has to be done after hours or over the weekend which can be a bit frustrating at times when you start to think in terms of how much you’re getting paid vs. your actual hours. That aside, this was actually was my favorite part of the whole job: reading my different coworkers’ projects and giving editorial feedback, or brainstorming possible solutions to sticky plot projects. You’re also working directly with the authors themselves which…um…  can be a total joy or a total nightmare depending on the personality you’re working with.

In reality, what you’ll spend the bulk of your time doing is writing copy. Every book on a list gets: catalog copy, cover summary (a kind of descriptive form for design to help them figure out a cover direction), bound galley copy, flap copy, titlesheet copy, launch presentations, sales meetings presentations, and later paperback edition copy. I also wrote quite a bit of EXTRAS content for the back of different paperbacks. The only thing more overwhelming than keeping up with the copy deadlines was trying to keep up with one author’s fan mail, which I had to respond to. I would spend whole days addressing these little postcards, and usually ended up bringing piles of it home so I could force my roommates to help me!

As to when you get to acquire… again, it totally depends on your supervisor. My supervisor saw acquisitions as something that should come after being promoted to assistant editor (after 2+ years as an editorial assistant) or an associate editor. Other imprints–usually smaller ones–had assistants who were extremely hands-on and editorial from the very beginning. It was often the case that they would acquire projects as assistants, and that acquisition was quickly followed by a promotion to assistant editor. The projects that you’re working on independently as an assistant are usually paperback editions or repackages of older titles.

I loved being an editorial assistant–and I loved the people I worked with–so I feel very privileged to have had the experience I did. It’s a lot of hard work that demands organization and being able to keep numerous balls up in the air at the same time, but, man, it’s so worth it. Sound off in the comments if you have any specific questions about the life of an Editorial Assistant in kidlit, or if you have a question for next month!

—

Alex lives in New York City, where she works in children’s publishing, writes like a fiend, and lives in a charming apartment overflowing with books. Her two novels, Brightly Woven and The Darkest Minds, are both available now. You can visit her online at her website, Twitter, or

by Julie Eshbaugh

~~~

We’ve all heard the old adage, “Write what you know.” I’m not here today to debate this advice. In fact, I agree with it to the extent that I believe it is helpful to ground the emotions and feelings of your characters in emotions and feelings you know well, even if your characters’ experiences vary widely from your own. But the wisdom of “Write what you know” isn’t what I want to discuss today. I want to discuss the wisdom of “Write what you love.”

When I find myself searching for a new writing project, I always go through a period of false starts. (I wrote an entire post about false starts here.)

With a false start, I generally fall head-over-heels in love with an idea for a very short period of time. During that brief honeymoon with the idea I am convinced that it is the story – the story idea I’ve been waiting for all my life. I feel this way intensely until… I just don’t. I wake up one morning and realize I don’t feel passionate about the characters or the plot or both. Maybe it’s the main idea – the truth within the story – that isn’t compelling enough to me to keep going. Whatever the reason, I fall out of love with the story (usually all at once.)

Other stories – the ones I slip more deeply into every day – are the ones where that initial hint of love keeps growing. I find the characters more and more interesting, their circumstances more and more compelling. That’s when I begin to know that this story is one I will invest myself in. This is a story I want to stay with and make into a novel.

Maybe you feel this is something you already know. However, I feel it’s worth repeating because I notice a great deal of distraction among aspiring writers with regard to choosing what to write about. I see comments and questions all over the blogosphere and twitterverse (especially when it comes to #askagent sessions on twitter) about what is selling and what is “the next big thing.” While I think it’s only natural to want your book to sell, I believe it’s a fool’s errand to choose your genre or topic or story inspiration based on a perceived shift in the winds of publishing.

I cannot pretend to be immune to this myself. We all want to know “What’s next.” The answer is “Nobody knows.” My agent likes to remind me, “No one has a crystal ball.” The market will be what it will be. As a writer you can’t control it. So rather than write the book you think everyone else will want to read, write the book you want to read.

This is also a piece of well-worn advice – “Write the book you want to read” – but it’s just about the best advice you can consider when you start to write a new story. Of course it makes sense to create for the world a book that you yourself would want to read because you have to trust that other readers will agree with you. But there’s another aspect of this advice that you should consider strongly as you choose the story you will devote yourself to, and that is the fact that you yourself will read that book countless times.

In the course of writing a novel and seeing it through the process of drafting, revision, critique-partner input, more revision, agent queries, more revision, editor submissions, more revision… you will read your own novel so many times you will certainly lose count. As Amie Kaufman discussed in her post yesterday, you will read it so many times you will struggle to find ways to read it from new, fresh angles. You will stop reading it for a while just so you can go back and read it again.

Writing a novel is like entering into a commited relationship. You will spend countless evenings with your characters. (If you’re dreaming of writing a series, you will be with those characters for years…) The only way that you will be able to devote so much time and energy and passion into a story without plunging into complete despair is to Write what you love. Write characters you love, in a setting you love, in situations you love. Make them hurt so that your heart breaks for the love of them. Lift them up so that your love for them makes their victories your victories, too.

When I fall in love with a book I’m reading, I feel a passion that’s alive on the page. That passion is something the author is sharing with me, because she felt it first.

How do you decide what to write? Do you write what you know? Do you write what you love? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

~~~

Julie Eshbaugh writes fiction for young adults. She is represented by Adams Literary. You can add Julie on Goodreads and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.

by

Amie Kaufman

—

When it comes to the best way to embed learning and improve your technique, the jury’s in: plenty of studies out there say that anything you can identify yourself will stick with you quicker and better than something someone tells you.

And that’s true, right? We all know that the brilliant a-ha! of working something out yourself is both more satisfying and a deeper realisation than having someone explain something to you. So how do we apply this to our writing? I don’t know about you guys, but I’m totally capable of staring at something for days on end, knowing it’s not quite right, but incapable of figuring out what I should change. Self-identified improvement is all well and good, but when you can’t self-identify, then it’s less a helpful teaching mantra, and more the kind of thing that leaves me grinding my teeth.

Here are a few of the things that I do to help me hold a mirror up to my own work, and improve through identifying what I can do better.

1. I get to work for my critique partners.

Wait, what? Bear with me, guys! I know it sounds like looking at someone else’s work is no way to identify flaws in your own, but I guarantee it’s one of the most valuable things you’ll do. When I’m critiquing someone else’s work, I often spot something that doesn’t sit right, then have to really think about why that is. The process of considering, and then trying to explain in comments what I’m getting at? Super educational. This goes to the heart of what I’ve said above — someone else can teach you all the theory in the world, but the thing you identify yourself is the one you’ll understand most deeply.

And then, I guarantee, when you go back to your own writing, you’ll find ways to apply what you’ve just learned. So many times I’ve carefully explained something in a critique note, then picked up my own MS the next day and spotted it. That experience of finding it in my writing is so very valuable, and it’s the first step towards really improving that aspect of my own writing.

2.  I write up tests and checklists.

So step one is reading a really interesting blog post on how to do something (add tension, write a great scene, snap up your dialogue), but step two is actually doing it. And for sure, these things are easier said than done — anyone who’s tried it knows that! When it comes to applying those lessons to your own writing it’s easy to think ‘Sure, I always do X’, but it takes a lot more work to really check that’s true.

If I’m struggling with something in particular and I’ve found a few great articles or a chapter in a book on how to do it better, I try and write up a test, or a checklist, then put the lesson aside and actually fill it in using my own chapter. It can be laborious, sure, but it means I really hold the mirror up to my own writing and check that I’m walking my talk. Usually I find that one bit that’s not quite behaving, and you can bet I’m going to be faster to identify it next time.

3. I let time work its magic.

This one’s an oldie, but a goodie. We’ve all heard it over and over again — once you’re finished writing, put your work aside and keep those itching, twitching fingers away from it! The longer you can leave it, the better, but I recommend at least a month. Eeeeeeverybody has their day, one day, when they think they’re the exception to this rule. Here’s the thing: you’re not. (Nor was I, the time I thought I was.) You can hand your baby off to critique partners as soon as you punch out THE END, but don’t you go back until you’ve had some time apart. It will be like reading someone else’s work, and you’ll start to see what really is there, not what you think should be.

What do you do to hold a mirror up to your own writing? How to get get perspective? I’d love to hear your ideas!

—

Amie Kaufman is the co-author of THESE BROKEN STARS, a YA sci-fi novel coming in December 2013 from Disney-Hyperion. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary. You can find her at her blog, on Twitter or on Facebook. Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and rescue dog.

by

Kat Zhang

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I love the WHAT’S LEFT OF ME cover. I love the relative simplicity of it, the colors of it, the crazy-awesome optical illusion-y aspect of it. So I waited for the ONCE WE WERE cover with crossed fingers and high hopes, and the lovely people at HarperTeen delivered. They totally and completely delivered.

So, without further ado…

….

….

Here it is!

Do you love it as much as I do?? I don’t think that’s entirely possible, actually Continuing the trend of my getting notice of my covers while Not At the Computer, I got the email with this cover while grocery shopping and might have frightened the guy stacking the bananas when I said OMG IT’S SO PRETTY apropos of nothing.

Here’s WHAT’S LEFT OF ME and ONCE WE WERE side by side

WHAT’S LEFT OF ME had a face and the silhouette of another one, perfectly portraying the dynamic between Addie and Eva. (funnily enough, I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I think Eva is the face looking outward, or the profile. I suppose either makes sense, right?)

ONCE WE WERE works on SO many levels, some of which won’t make total sense until you read the book. We’ve still got the face, of course. And now we’ve got TWO silhouettes, which are opposed to each other, and they fit together to frame the face in a way that seems, to me, like a fragment of something….or possibly like someone is trying to rip their way out of the cover.

I’m probably over-thinking things

Awesome cover. Love it to bits.

In celebration of another Hybrid Chronicles cover, I’m giving away

an ARC of ONCE WE WERE

OR

a hardcover of WHAT’S LEFT OF ME

Whoever wins the rafflecopter can pick what they want

I  can’t wait to share this book with you guys, but in the mean time, I’m glad to be able to parade the cover around! What do you think?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

—

Kat Zhang loves traveling to places both real and fictional–the former allows for better souvenirs, but the latter allows for dragons, so it’s a tough pick. Her novel WHAT’S LEFT OF ME is about a girl struggling to survive in an alternate universe where people are born with two souls, and one is doomed to disappear. It is the first book in a trilogy and was published by HarperCollins in September of 2012.  Book 2, ONCE WE WERE, releases September 17, 2013. You can learn all about Kat at her site, or listen to her ramblings on twitter.

Jodi Meadows

–

Recently, a friend asked me how I get through interviews and Q&A sessions at book events. How do I know what to say? How do I keep from sounding dumb? Authors, especially, seem to be an overall introverted bunch (there are exceptions!), so how does one turn themselves on for these kinds of things?

This was a huge concern for me, too! Writers spend so much time not just alone in front of the keyboard, but revising everything we say — and you can’t rewind and edit your phrase to make it perfect when you’re standing in front of a crowd of people. You’re stuck with whatever just came out of your mouth.

Though I’m still in a constant state of learning how to avoid making a fool of myself, I did a few things that helped me keep my face from going scarlet every five seconds:

1. I looked at all the author interviews I could find online. I pulled out all the questions they were asked, figured out how I’d answer, read what other authors said — that sort of thing. I also compiled a master document with my answers to dozens of questions.

So I did a lot of prep work before anyone ever sent an interview request, which felt a bit presumptuous, but was very, very useful for showing me what kind of things readers tend to ask about.

2. When I met my publisher for the first time, she (very nicely) asked me where I got the idea for my book. I sort of shrugged and said I didn’t know. She also asked me another book-relevant question, that I gave a one-word answer for. And (again, very nicely), she sighed and said I’d need to work on my responses to those sorts of questions. My responses needed to be more interesting, she said.

So I began practicing my stories. You know, the ones people ask about a lot: where did the idea come from, how the book sold, behind the cover, and any funny/inspiring stories that might get told a lot. I wrote them down, told them out loud, and the first few times I had to tell the stories in front of a crowd, I was still very nervous — but I knew what I was going to say.

3. I live in the middle-of-nowhere Virginia, so we don’t get a lot of book signings out here, but I tried to go to as many as I could — and watch signing events online (live or on YouTube) — and study how the authors responded to questions and how they interacted with the audience. I wanted to know what worked for getting a reaction from the audience.

(Yeah, I realize that could sound a little creepy.)

4. For panels with Q&A sessions, I like to have a few answers for various questions, because someone else will inevitably have your answer, too. Which is tough if you’re the last person to answer the question! (But really, sometimes I just end it with “Ditto!”)

5. This one isn’t prep-work, but it’s something I immediately wanted to put into practice (not just for interviews and events, but for life, really): stay positive.

Which basically means I avoid saying anything negative. If a reader asks about a book I read but didn’t like, I never say I didn’t like it; I praise it for something it did well. If an interviewer asks me to list some books I don’t like — I simply don’t answer that question.

Sometimes this can be a challenge, and sometimes I say things I wish I could rewind and change. But moving past it quickly (rather than trying to defend or explain or backpedal) helps, especially ending on a positive, encouraging note.

Friendliness, a positive attitude, and encouragement can go a long way when speaking in public.

And, I’m going to say it again: practice. The more events I do, the more comfortable I get doing them.

What about you? Any thoughts? Ideas? Tricks for breaking out of your introvert shell in order to speak above mouse volume?

–

Jodi Meadows lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with her husband, a Kippy*, and an alarming number of ferrets. She is a confessed book addict, and has wanted to be a writer ever since she decided against becoming an astronaut. She is the author of INCARNATE and ASUNDER (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen).
*A Kippy is a cat.

by

Joanna Volpe

So this post is a little different guys…it’s actually a post I wrote four and a half years ago that STILL gets referenced in queries and comes up at the top of the searches for my name (well, my old name: Joanna Stampfel-Volpe).  And the funny thing is, it’s still as true today as it was back then: if I don’t take a moment to stop and enjoy reading, then I can’t actually do my job well.

If you want to read the original post (and see a really terrible picture of me in a Notre Dame visor) go here.

Otherwise, just read on!

From the archives…..

–

(Jan 12, 2009, The Swivet Blog)

Over the holiday break, I found myself with reader’s block. For all of you writers out there who just did a double-take, yes, I said readers block. I just made it up. Although I’m positive I’m not the first person in the industry to feel this way. Let me explain.

I was on the couch, reading a requested submission and I just couldn’t get past the first page. And the writing was good. After four failed attempts I put the manuscript aside and picked up another. Same thing happened.

The next few days passed with the same results. I was frustrated (for those of you who don’t know me, this is an understatement to say the least). At one point I’m pretty sure I injured my dog with an errant rubber band flick. I unbent every paperclip in sight. I even did—gulp—all of our laundry, including bed sheets! But still, the thought of attempting another manuscript made my eyes cross.

“I think I’ve burned out,” I announced to my husband, Joe. He didn’t even get a chance to step inside our apartment yet. “I just can’t read anymore.”

Joe peered over my shoulder at the mess of paperwork on the couch, the pile of metal sticks on the coffee table, and at PeeWee, who gingerly licked at his rubber band wounds. “Let’s talk about it.”

Ah, the benefits of being a newlywed.

Joe dropped his briefcase, carefully moved a pile of papers labeled “client edits,” and sat on the couch. “So what have you read lately?”

“What have I read?!” Did he really want to get me started? “Oh, I don’t know…about a hundred queries, a manuscript about a leprechaun with a Napoleonic complex, Client X’s latest revisions…” blah, blah, blah.

Joe’s a good sport. He let me rant for at least three minutes.

“That’s nice,” he finally said. “But what books have you read?”

I stopped pacing. Wait…what was the last book I read?

“Identical, Ellen Hopkins.”

“Great. When was that?”

“Thanksgiving…” I reluctantly admitted.

Joe was quiet for a minute. Then he stood up, walked over to our bookshelves and pulled out the newest Dennis L. McKiernan (I’m a closet Mithgar junkie and he knows it). I had bought the book as soon as it came out in October. I meant to read it…when I had the time….

“Come with me.”

I followed Joe down the hall and into our bedroom.

“Now lie down and read.”

Had he even been listening to me?!! “I can’t read!” At this point I was near tears. I mean, before this I could always read. No matter where I was, I could always get sucked into a new world. And now that magic was GONE.

“Joanna,” Joe said more sternly. “Lie down and read.”

Being the other newlywed, I relented. I swiped the book from his hand and made myself cozy.

It took a few minutes, and a few bouts of actually forcing myself to sloooooow down. But it worked. The words pulled me in, one by one. I connected with the characters (Aravan, my love!). It was just like old times.

I stopped—reluctantly—to eat dinner and to feed PeeWee, who forgave me for my earlier actions as soon as his kibble hit his bowl. By the time Joe climbed into bed, I was more than half way done. At 3:42 a.m., I closed the back cover over, fully satisfied.

Only I wasn’t satisfied. After I turned out the light, the story kept replaying in my mind. I wanted more. What happens to the characters now? Oh, I hope Dennis (isn’t it great how you’re on a first-name-basis with an author when you read their work?) writes another soon….

This is what I had been missing.

The next morning I had errands to run, we had plans that evening, and I needed to shower, but something kept pulling me to my pile of submissions. I wanted to meet new characters, to go on new adventures. Dennis’ book left me wanting more. And that’s really what good writing does.

That’s when I realized what Joe was trying to tell me. There was nothing wrong with the manuscripts or the writing or even the queries. I just needed something to remind me what all of those submitted pages could become. I needed a reminder of why I joined this industry, why I even became a reader in the first place.

Nothing beats a good book.

I once heard that Stephen King reads for four hours and day and writes for four hours a day. Now, it’s true that Stephen King could attribute his success to scrambled eggs and beer for breakfast and we would probably all take his advice, but I think he has something there on the reading part. It’s our way, as persons in the publishing industry, of smelling the roses.

Joe came home early from work that night for our evening plans. He found me on the couch, PeeWee curled up next to me, a manuscript on my lap and …unshowered. But he didn’t get mad. Ah, newlyweds!

–

Joanna Volpe is a literary agent with New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc. She represents all brands of fiction,   from    picture books to adult. 

 She has an affinity for stories that have a darker, grittier element to them, whether they be horror, drama or comedy.

by

Jordan Hamessley London

—

I moved to New York City nine years ago for college. What was my major? Musical Theatre. That’s right. I work as an editor in the publishing industry and don’t have an English degree. I did take several literature classes in college, but the majority of my course work involved dance class, voice lessons, and a lot of dressing up in costumes and playing characters. I even worked for several years as an actor in the city and on tour. This post isn’t about how you don’t need an English degree to be an editor. Plenty of editors don’t have English degrees (although many do). This post is about how I use the skills I learned in the theatre school on a regular basis in my job as an editor.

The most obvious skill I use is public speaking. Editors really are the face of a book in-house. We have to stand up and speak to sales, marketing, and publicity teams numerous times over the course of a book’s life. When I launch a book to sales, I have to speak clearly and with confidence. I have to convince the sales team to love my books in the same way I had to convince an audience to care about my character. I’ve even been known to wear a costume to launch to really make my books stand out to the sales team. The confidence I gained from theatre school and my years working professionally comes in handy every time I speak in front of a large group about my books.

I like to think of launch meeting as one big audition room. I LOVED the audition room when I was a performer. It may be strange, but I honestly miss the audition room more than anything else from performing. You have 30 seconds to a few minutes to give it all you’ve got and make a casting director/director look up and pay attention to you. I’ll be honest, there were some auditions where the people behind the table never looked up from their lunch or phones for more than five seconds during my entire audition. That certainly prepared me for a room full of librarians who are reading the catalog while listening to my pitch or a group of sales reps writing notes and not looking at me.

Let’s talk about rejection. I experienced rejection from both sides of the table as a performer. So much time as a performer was spent not getting the job. I learned to go into each audition optimistic and positive. After years of auditioning and helping out casting directors with casting, I learned that casting directors and directors wanted actors to do well in the audition room. No one wants to listen to a bunch of awful girls sing. The job is much more fun when you have a large group of great performers to pick from. Sounds familiar? Editors read submissions wanting the manuscript to be great. We want to fall in love. I don’t read submissions hoping that they are bad.

I still feel like I have to audition as an editor with manuscripts. I may love a manuscript, but I may lose out to another house. That feels like making it to the final callback for a show and finding out that the part went to the other 5’4″ brunette who can tap dance who looked exactly like me. Rejection. But like auditioning, I pick myself up and find the next role (or manuscript) to play! Then there’s the rejection that happens when I can’t convince my team in-house to fall in love with a manuscript. I can handle that rejection because I had plenty of near misses where I just “wasn’t the right type” for the director. In this case, director=publisher.

The biggest thing I learned from my past as a performer is how to take criticism. Obviously, there is the “criticism” actors receive from their directors when working on a show. Think of those comments as a never ending edit letter. I loved getting notes from directors because it made me a better performer. The criticism that I actually learned the most from came from children. I spent several years performing children’s theatre across the country. Let’s take a look at a photo of me from my time touring in a production of Cinderella.

This photo was taken after a performance. Let’s analyze briefly. See the girl on the left giving me some serious side eye? I’m pretty sure she had just walked up and told me “You don’t look like Cinderella! She’s blond! Also, Cinderella doesn’t have braces!” Oh yeah, I had braces in my 20s. As if I wasn’t self-conscious enough, right? Let’s not even talk about that wig! SO! After having a bunch of 6 year olds tell you that you don’t look like Cinderella from the movie, I can handle marketing not loving my covers. Kids. They speak it like they see it. Working in children’s books, I am very aware of how honest kids can be. My time on tour gave me quite the back bone.

Finally, auditioning and performing taught me to smile and be nice to everyone. You never know if the person playing the piano or signing you in for the audition is an assistant, the music director, or a producer. No matter what, those people are trusted by the people in charge. If you upset the assistants, you can bet they will say something to the director. Hey, that also sounds familiar! Be nice to the assistants. You never know who you’re really talking to.

I loved my time as a performer and I’m grateful that I still get to use the skills I learned performing every day. I love my job and all of the books I work on. That said, show tunes still get me through the day. There is a good chance that if you walk by me in the office, I’m working AND dancing the frug in my mind.

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Jordan Hamessley London is an assistant editor at Grosset and Dunlap, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers where she edits middle grade and chapter book science fiction, fantasy, and horror. When not editing, Jordan can be  found on twitter talking about books, scary movies, and musical theater. She can be seen performing her one-woman show, AS I’D LIKE TO BE  this Sunday, May 12th at the Abingdon Theatre in New York City. 

by

Marie Lu

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Yesterday, I found myself struggling with my writing. As one does. The scene wasn’t coming together; the characters didn’t want to behave; the emotions felt flat on the page, and I started to ask myself whether or not I was headed in the right path, whether the scene I’d chosen wasn’t just a shortcut to the quicksand swamp that separated me from the Mountain of Endgoal. I was at 26,000 words. Yup, typical writing block time: the dreaded Middle.

It’s always comforting to know that other writers feel the same way, but as Libba Bray says in her brilliant and heartfelt post (thanks JJ!), taking comfort in the idea that others feel this way does not make the hardship any less personal. I tend to think, “It’s so nice to know that others feel the same way I do, but they don’t really. Because they are Real Writers. And I am not.” On writing days like yesterday, I convince myself thoroughly that I am an imposter writer. That this is the book where I will be revealed for the fraud that I am, that I’m fake, and that the last three books I wrote were complete anomalies that will never happen again.

There is, of course, the Imposter Syndrome, a real syndrome psychiatrists diagnose many women–particularly successful women–with. According to Wikipedia, the Imposter Syndrome is: “a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence, those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent and competent than they believe themselves to be.”

This probably sounds very familiar to many women (and men, too!)–but I imagine it’s particularly prevalent among the creative types (i.e. us writers). As a woman, I have felt the above every single day of my life: if I fail at something, it’s because of my own lack of talent or intelligence, and if I succeed, it is because of outside luck, outside help, and elements out of my control. I feel as if my accomplishments can be swept away at any moment simply because I am having a bad writing day, or I said something stupid in a conversation, or because I made a single wrong choice. I am not expected to succeed. If I do, it’s because the universe smiled randomly at me.

I think many writers, too, feel this sense of insecurity with each new project that they take on. You hit that dreaded middle (or opening, or ending, or whatever gives you the most trouble). You become absolutely convinced that this is the last book anyone will ever pay you to write. I’ll start to imagine the scenario where I have to tell my editor the bad news, that I just can’t do it. I imagine returning my advance and canceling my contract. I picture myself trying to go back to the game industry after three years outside of it, whether or not they’ll take me back as an intern in something or other.

It’s scary, this self-doubt. I don’t think any particular thing will make it go away. We’re asked how we cope with writer’s block and I always want to say that I can coast smoothly past it by stepping away from the writing for a while (which does work sometimes), or indulging in some other form of creative media (which also sometimes works), or just “fixing what’s wrong with the chapter” (it’s so easy! Right?). But, you know, more often than not I just end up putting my head down on my desk and admitting to myself that I am a failure at writing. Sometimes it takes me a couple of hours to get over my whining. Sometimes it takes weeks.

But you know what? You will always get over it. It may take a while, but at some point, the urge to write will overwhelm the looming insecurity. You feel that creative spark, and suddenly the blank page will fill with words again, and you’ll feel like you’ve taken a deep breath. You’ll squick your foot out of that quicksand swamp and onto the paved road that leads to the Mountain of Endgoal.

So when you feel that Imposter Syndrome creeping forward, recognize it for what it really is. You’re not alone in feeling it, even if you’re absolutely convinced you are, and know that eventually….this too shall pass.

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Marie Lu is the author of the New York Times bestselling Legend trilogy. She currently resides in Los Angeles, where she spends her time writing and stuck in traffic.

by

Erin Bowman

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Having spent my college and then pre-publication years studying and practicing web design, I’ve been answering a certain question a lot these last few weeks: Did being a designer change and/or shape how you write?

This question has popped up in multiple interviews, and at signing events, and while I’ve answered it in those various instances, I’ve never talked about it here, on Pub Crawl. And I’d like to, because I find the topic incredibly interesting.

Design has in no way whatsoever influenced my actual writing. But my process–the way I approach the act of creating–and my general philosophies regarding it? Absolutely!

I’ve been trying to pinpoint why this might be, and I think it comes down to the simple fact that all artists are creating. Writers, designers, photographers, filmmakers, painters, musicians, you name it, are all trying to take something intangible that exists solely in their heads, and capture it in the physical world. This process, regardless of end product, is both painstakingly tedious and immensely rewarding.

^ Isn’t that the truth?*

When I started treating writing like a job, I approached it the exact same way I approached design. That is to say, my core process was identical: Work hard. Seek out feedback. Revise and polish. Repeat. I also found that despite vastly different end mediums (words vs visuals), my general creative philosophy overlapped both outlets. In some ways, it was almost universal.

Just take a look at this list of key lessons learned during my years as a designer (aka my creative philosophy):

1) It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Yes, there’s a deadline, but that doesn’t mean you should work as fast and feverishly as possible. Good work takes time, dedication, and patience. Sometimes stepping away is the only way to move forward. Letting ideas marinate is not procrastination. It’s a necessity and an integral part of the creative process. And chances are it will help you meet that deadline with less strife.

2) Revision is your friend.
Your first attempt is never, ever the best you can do. Not even if it comes out of you in a a flash of inspired brilliance. Revision is where a project shines, so roll up those sleeves, get some feedback, and dig in.

3) Really, truly listen.
It’s a natural instinct to want to immediately defend your work, but resist. Instead of arguing, listen. Deeply. As Neil Gaiman so aptly suggests, “When people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” It’s your job to hear them, and then tweak things accordingly.

4) Surround yourself with smart people.
The best way to grow is to never stop learning. So read the works you aspire to write. Watch the movies you wish you produced. Go to conferences and museum exhibitions, and fill you life with people who inspire and challenge you, who make you want to do better work. Austin Kleon gives great advice: “Find the most talented person in the room, and if it’s not you, go stand next to him. If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.”

5) It’s supposed to be hard. And scary.
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” –Edwin Land | You won’t get anywhere if you’re too afraid to try. Know that the fear is good, that it means you’re growing, and accept that there are no shortcuts. It will be hard, but “the hard is what makes it great.”

6) The process is personal.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you there’s only one way to go about creating something. However you work is the right way to work.

7) Keep moving.
Do the best that you can do in the time that you are given, and then move on to the next project. Growth comes from continually challenging yourself, and as Neil Gamain states, “Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”

Today, I apply these same basic design philosophies to my writing, although I imagine they could also be applied to film making. And painting. And photography. I think it’s safe to say that some aspects of the creative process transcend medium.

Creating is a labor of love. It’s exhausting–physically, mentally, emotionally–but it’s what makes any artist tick. It’s what we can’t live without, what we wake every morning itching to do. If you’re here reading this post, you know what I’m talking about. You are my people.

Do any of these pointers hit home for you as a writer? Anything you’d like to add to the list? Leave me your thoughts in the comments!

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Erin Bowman is a YA writer, letterpress lover, and Harry Potter enthusiast living in New Hampshire. Her debut novel, TAKEN, is available from HarperTeen. You can visit her blog (updated occasionally) or find her on twitter (updated obsessively).

*Artist unknown. I searched/googled high and low, so if anyone knows the creator, please let me know in the comments so I can credit them accordingly.