Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Focus on the First Page

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Donna Maloy, Author

Capture a starCapture the Reader in 250 Words

Regina Brooks founded Serendipity Literary Agency in 2000. She and her team represent brand new authors as well as award-winning veterans. In an interview with the blog YA INTERROBANG, Brooks talked about the contest she runs every year, the YA Novel Discovery Contest and why it focuses only on a book’s beginning.

“The contest was designed because so many people forget the importance of the first page in getting an agent and an editor interested,” explained Brooks. “If you can capture someone within the first 250 words, you really can get an agent excited about your work. Agents and editors get thousands of submissions, and the first page, or 250 words, gets the most focus.”

YA Novel Discovery Contest

This year’s contest opened on November 1 and closed on November 31, coinciding with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org).

The Grand Prize Winner has the opportunity to submit an entire manuscript to YA Brooks AND receive a free, 10-week writing course, courtesy of Gotham Writers’ Workshop, plus a collection of gourmet teas from Possibiliteas.co!

Brooks and her team read all of the entries and determine the top 20 submissions. These submissions are then read by such publishing stars as Deidre Jones Little Brown, Nicole Raymond Candlewick, Annie Nybo Simon and Schuster, and many more.

The judges whittle the top 20 down to five. The Top Five Entrants (including the Grand Prize winner) receive a one-on-one pitch session with Brooks, as well as commentary on their submissions from editors with such houses as Scholastic, Random House/Penguin, Bloomsbury, and Sourcebooks. In addition, they  receive a year’s subscription to The Writer magazine!  The First 50 Entrants receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.

This is a terrific contest and NaNoWriMo is a great way to force yourself to get that first draft done! Mark your calendar for November, 2014 and get started writing today!

Among Brooks’ star-studded clientele is Marilyn Nelson: Newbery Honor winner, three-time National Book Award finalist, and winner of the 2006 Michael Printz Honor Award. Other notable clients are ALA winner Derrick Barnes, and Coretta Scott King award-winning Sundee Frazier. Brooks takes pride in the fact that her list is a blend of experienced, recognizable names, and enthusiastic newcomers.

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Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: A different way to approach setting a scene

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Donna Maloy, Author

winter gardenThis month’s tip comes from Julia Wells, editor of The Things We Did for Love by Natasha Farrant.

The Remedy for Too Much Description

Julia’s advice reflects the position of most industry professionals: Use action and dialogue, not description, to “Show, Don’t Tell.”  In an interview for The Guardian, Wells cautions, “While the use of description can allow the reader to picture a scene, too much description can make the story seem slow and boring. The reader will feel as if they are actually in the scene if they experience it through the characters’ eyes, feeling what the character feels.” Wells goes on to talk about ways to show that a character is scared using dialog, by showing her breathing, shaking, stuttering, running away.

But how does any of that help you set a scene for an exotic locale, an historical, a fantasy, or a futuristic romance?

Practical Application

In the book named above, Natasha Farrant uses deep point of view to show us both a melancholy character and the lost world she mourns. It’s 1944 in France and the war has going on for five years. Watching dismal rain hit her window, the heroine thinks:

Once there had been fires and warm lights on winter afternoons, brioche straight from the baker’s oven dunked into bowls of chocolate.

You can practically taste the hunger for that brioche. And feel the wistful sadness of the narrator. In that one sentence you have both characterization and a picture of the world. And because it’s a picture of a world that no longer exists, you know the present is cold and there is no brioche.

The heroine’s best friend, stuffing stockings down her bra and admiring her reflection, misses different things.

      “You know what the problem is, don’t you? Five years of war has made us dull. Nothing ever happens.”
      “The Duponts came last year.” Arianne did not say what she wanted to say, that her father being taken prisoner had not been nothing. “There are piano recitals.”
      “Piano recitals!” cried Solange.
      “Paul says the oldest daughter can skin a rabbit almost as fast as he can.”

So with this dialogue you know the town’s citizens have now been reduced to eating wild game. And a piano recital now passes for exciting entertainment… for some, but not for would-be-flirt Solange.

This is how you combine characterization and dialogue to build a setting. Yes, the details of the environment are subtle, creeping up on your readers almost without them realizing. And sometimes you just have to describe that spaceship or warship, or that hideous purple sofa. But this way involves your readers and lets them see the world through the eyes of characters who have feelings about that world. It’s a faster read and lets you get on with the plot without tons of narrative. Lots better, don’t you think?

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YA Books into Movies

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Donna Maloy, Author

The good news: Hollywood producers have decided YA books make great movies. The bad news: Some YA movies don’t do justice to great YA books. But extra good news is that Hollywood is going to keep on trying. That means you’ll be seeing more and more of your favorite blockbuster books remade for the big screen.

Some of what’s coming up – with links to the authors (in order of release dates)

enders-game-movie-posterEnder’s Game by Orson Scott Card  Ender Wiggin and the Buggers on a big screen! Asa Butterfield (Ender) also played Hugo in the movie based on Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Release date is November 1, 2013. (Note: Has anybody else seen the poster with the added tagline – This Is Not A Game? What a spoiler shame!)

The book thiefThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak   Death narrates this World War II story about a girl’s love affair with books. Release date November 15, 2013. Check here for cool production images from the film.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins  Sequel to the gigantic The Hunger Games. Release date is November 22, 2013. (Note: The Hunger Games: Mockinjay I and II are already being cast.)

divergent_poster_by_myoldsecrets-d66ti86Divergent by Veronica Roth   In a future dystopian Chicago, teens challenge the status quo. Release is March 21, 2014

the fault in our stars.The Fault in our Stars by John Green  According to tweets from the author, the producer cast real teen cancer survivors to play the protagonist’s cancer support group. Release date is in 2014.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K.Rowling  No Harry Potter here in this movie version of Rowling’s “textbook”. The book’s protagonist, Newt Scamander, lives in New York and the year is somewhere in the 1920s. Watch for hippogriffs and Ukranian Ironbellies in the movie as well as in a Fantastic Beasts video game and a long list of other products (of course). No release date.

maze runnerThe Maze Runner by James Dasher  Release date February 14, 2014.

TheGiver-posterThe Giver by Lois Lowry  Cast includes hunky Brenton Thwaites as Jonas. No release date.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman  The cast, so far, includes Chloë Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, and Jamie Blackley (from Snow White and the Huntsman). No release date.

Fallen by Lauren Kate  Some casting is done in this story about two angels competing for the love of a young girl. No release date.

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery  An indie company is making a movie of the long-running (50 years!) Canadian hit, Anne of Green Gables – the Musical. No cast or details yet.

Chaos Walking (The Knife of Never Letting Go) by Patrick Ness is also said to be in development as a movie project. No cast or details yet.

Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare  In case you hadn’t heard, City of Bones did so poorly at the box office this sequel (which was actually in production) has been postponed indefinitely.

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Summer Writing Camps for Teens (Part One)

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Donna Maloy, Author
Writing

Writing

Writing camps for teens can be found all across the country. Some are free, some are expensive, and some actually pay teens to attend.

Here are a few… more to come!

Duke University Young Writers’ Camp (Durham, N.C.)

This summer program provides an opportunity to explore short fiction, poetry, journalism, and playwriting with instruction by professional writers and educators. Includes a daily Readers’ Forum (sharing work with peers) and recreational activities.

For those in grades 6 – 11 during the 2012-2013 academic year.

  • Session I: June 16 – June 28, 2013
  • Session II: July 7 – July 19, 2013
  • Session III: July 21 – August 2, 2013
  • Residential campers: $1,995
  • Extended Day campers: $1,225
  • Day Campers: $955

“Students who have average or above-average reading and writing abilities will benefit most from attending the program. Since the camp is academically rigorous, we encourage attendance only for students who are academically motivated and have the ability to manage their time to complete assignments.”

More info and registration forms at http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/youth/youngwriter/

The Young Writers’ Camp (Secondary Writing Institute) at Los Angeles Writing Project

This summer program, taught by university faculty and certified classroom teachers, features daily writing workshops introducing students to the writing process, strategies of professional writers, and a variety of writing types. Writing activities are blended with other creative arts, including drama, music, storytelling, drawing, and painting.

For students in grades 7-12 (grade level you will be entering in the Fall).

The duration of the camp is three weeks, July 8-25, Monday –Thursday from 9:00-12:30. Fee for the entirety of the camp is $300.00 ($325 if you are paying by credit card transaction.

More information and registration form at http://www.calstatela.edu/centers/ywc/hschool.html

The YAWP Summer Teen Fellowship

The Summer Teen Fellowship from Grub Street is an intensive, three-week creative writing program for incoming 9th-12 graders in the Boston area. Through classes, workshops, and readings, students will generate new work, learn about the craft of writing, and gain knowledge of the writing/publishing world. Each student will receive a stipend of $300 upon completing the program. The YAWP Fellowship is by application only and only 18 students will be chosen to participate.

When: July 15th-August 1st, Monday-Thursday from 10:30am-3:30pm. Snacks are included each day.

Information on this and other Grub Street writing camps for teens is at http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=22#Teen%20Writing%20Camps

More summer writing camps for teens in my next post!

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Conquering the Great Wall

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Donna Maloy, Author

Great Wall (3)There’s a reason I haven’t been around the site lately. I’ve been traveling in China, South Korea and Japan.

And here’s the proof! This is really me on top of the Great Wall, with outposts running up the rim of the mountain behind me.

I have lots of good writing tips to share, though, so look for new posts soon. Coming up in the near future: Summer Writing Camps for Teens.

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