Jen's Blog
Goals Time
Tomorrow is the last day of 2008, and I’m ready for the coming year. This past year has been great, but I’m ready to see what 2009 brings and get ready for another year of resolutions and goals.
Last year, I had only two goals. One, attend a writing class. I met this goal when I attended the writers’ conference since I sat through several craft and industry classes those two days. Two, finish a novel. And I meant not only the first draft but several rounds of editing. I met this goal. Twice. Plus, finished the first draft of a third.
Last year, I made sure I gave myself goals I knew I could meet. Goals that were completely in my control. But this year, in listing my goals, I will be including one that is somewhat out of my control. Yes, I control certain aspects, but I can’t make it happen like making myself sit down and put the words on the page. I can only do my part and trust the rest will fall into place.
So, here they are. My goals for 2009:
1. Sell a book, preferably the one my agent has right now. This is the one I don’t have complete control over, but it’s my number one goal for the year.
2. Revise CLASH.
3. Write and revise SHATTER ME.
4. Attend either the RT Convention or RWA Nationals.
And that’s pretty much it. Sure, I’d like to exercise regularly, but I know that isn’t going to happen. I’d also like to make a resolution to do laundry more often, but that isn’t going to happen either. Maybe make a resolution to pick my painting hobby back up, but once I get a job, I won’t have time for anything in addition to working, writing and reading.
So, there they are. My 2009 goals. What goals do you have for the new year and do you even find it helpful to list them?
Holiday Reading
In my travel to and from my parents’ house, plus the days while I was there, I spent quite a bit of time reading. And I enjoyed each of the three I read.
1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore, a YA fantasy. I’d heard a lot of good things about this book before I read it. Plus, I love that cover. This is a “traditional” fantasy where individuals in the world are gifted with graces, which are basically a form of superhero powers. Katsa, a 16 year old girl, believes she’s gifted with the grace to kill, and she has been employed by the king of her kingdom to go about doing his bidding to get people in line. But, on her own time, she’s trying to use her grace to help people. To save them instead of harm them.
The first 1/3 of the book was just okay for me, but then it really kicked in and sucked me into the world. I loved the second half, and I pretty much couldn’t put the book down.
2. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, a YA. Another one I’d heard a lot about. And wow, talk about creeptastic and unnerving. Some of these books I read about future events feel plausible for somewhere far down the road, but this reads like something that could happen in a mere 6 months. We’re so close to that point, it’s scary.
I did love the book. Another page-turner, and I really enjoyed reading Doctorow for the first time. He explains a lot of the technology, which wasn’t that bad. You know, what Flickr is and how crypto works. So, for those who don’t know this stuff already, you won’t get lost. And while I did know most of it, I wasn’t bored by the explanations. He has a pretty relaxed, interesting way of describing technology.
3. Extras by Scott Westerfeld, a YA futuristic science fiction novel. A Scott Westerfeld book so I doubt I need to say how much I loved it.
This book takes place after the Uglies trilogy ends, and it follows the story of a girl named Aya Fuse who lives in a city where the entire society revolves around fame and face-rank. And Aya has a plan to turn her measly 451,000 face rank into the top thousand. By kicking an incredible story. Except she runs into something pretty scary, and it could put her in serious danger if she lets the world know about it.
I loved it. It wasn’t as good as the trilogy, but mainly because I have a soft spot for Tally Youngblood, and even though she does make an appearance, I missed her being the main character. But mainly, I was just happy to be reading Scott Westerfeld, and he didn’t disappoint.
Next up: I have GONE and ZOE’S TALE sitting on my immediate TBR pile. I love having all these great YA’s to read!
CLASH, First Draft, Done!
I just finished the first draft of CLASH!
|
|
CLASH: YA Urban Fantasy
67,836 / 67,836 Words (100% DONE)
About 2k shy of my goal, but that’s fine. I’ve got a lot of work to do on this one during the second draft, but I’m not going to tackle that until the New Year. Yay! It felt so good to type, “The End!”
Random info:
Total words of first draft: 67,836
Chapters: 22
Pages: In Word, just 236
Time spent: About five months
Coffees consumed: A gazillion
Music listened to: Paramore, Panic at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Early November
Genre: YA UF
My 2008 Wrap Up
I saw this post idea on Fumbling with Fiction and Shelli’s blog and thought this would be a great way to celebrate the end of 2008 and list everything I’ll remember about this year. The year 2008 was a big one for me. I’ll never forget it.
- Brought in the New Year in Hoboken, NJ at a show by Spit Roast Muppet…may sound a little odd, but it was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had
- Took both my first and second trip ever out of the country to Argentina and Chile with my MBA group and to Italy with my boyfriend’s family
- Went to my first writer’s conference
- Entered two short story contests and got third place in the first round for one of them
- Finished my very first novel, a YA contemporary fantasy, SHADOW GUARDIAN
- Queried my first novel and received a big pile of rejections
- Made dozens of fantastic blog buddies and online writing friends
- Finished my second novel, a YA urban fantasy/paranormal, TEEN GHOST
- Attended my second writer’s conference and pitched TEEN GHOST to agents
- Finally moved from a tiny studio to a 1-bedroom apartment that I love
- Discovered the works of Scott Westerfeld, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare and Rachel Vincent
- Celebrated my 27th birthday in NYC with some of my best friends
- Received my MBA, cum laude
- Got two offers of representation for TEEN GHOST
- Signed with my agent, Miriam Kriss
- Will finish the first draft of my third novel, a YA urban fantasy, CLASH
This just might be my favorite year yet, with 2005 (my favorite (and last) semester of college and the year I moved to NYC) coming in at second place. One thing is certain. Things get better as I get older. If that remains true for the future, then I can’t wait to see what 2009 brings.
Happy Holidays!
Posts may be scarce this week since I’ll be spending time with family and doing all the holiday type activities. And I’ll be doing lots of reading. Books I’m packing are Graceling, Little Brother and Extras. Yay! I also hope to finally finish writing Clash this week! Just two chapters to go.
Hope everyone has safe and happy holidays by sitting by the fireplace, drinking some eggnog and baking some cookies!
Week 6 of Sven
I’m so close to the end!! I have less than two chapters left and approximately 6k words. I’ll be finishing this thing up this week!
|
|
CLASH: YA Urban Fantasy
63,070 / 70,000 Words (90%)
The Hunger Games
I’d heard a lot about THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins before I began reading it last night when it was given to me as a Christmas present. I’d heard only good things, and I’d hyped it up in my mind, convinced I’d love it. I was also scared I was expecting too much and would end up disappointed.
Well, it lived up to the hype.
I finished it this evening after spending much of the cold winter day under a blanket and reading. I devoured it. It’s dark, sometimes scary and it is violent. It’s also heartbreaking, compelling and smart, with a few dashes of humor mixed in. And the main character? I was rooting for her all the way which I don’t say lightly.
The book takes place in a future dystopian society that you like to think could never happen, but while reading, have an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach that it actually could. I think that’s part of what pulled me in: how realistic and believable it seemed despite how horrible living under such a government would be.
In what used to be North America is a new nation called Panem with twelve distinct districts. There used to be a thirteenth before the rebellion against the government. And then, the government wiped it out. In order to remind the other districts of the consequences of a rebellion and to punish them for their traitorous crimes, the Capitol has developed the Hunger Games, where both a girl and a boy from each district is chosen. All twenty-four of them are shipped to an arena, which could be a swamp, a forest, mountains, etc, where they all must fight each other to the death on live television. Only one can be left standing.
So, when the 12 year old sister of Katniss (16) is chosen for the games, Katniss steps in and volunteers as her replacement. She’s certain doing this means her own death.
—–
I’ve read a lot of great books this year. If this isn’t my favorite of 2008, it’s definitely in the top five. This is one of those books I can’t wait to reread down the road.
More on YA
I share this with hesitancy because I’m not sure if I want to get caught up in this. It only frustrates me, really. On the other hand, I feel like I need to speak my mind if only for myself.
Anyway, a couple of days ago I wrote a post about an attitude toward YA literature I’ve been encountering lately. Since then, it has only gotten worse. The New Yorker Book Bench column started a three series review of a YA novel. Now, while I am very glad they chose to review a YA novel in their column, thus spreading the word about these great books, their attitude pretty much canceled out the positive aspect of it.
It is very obvious to me that none of the writers in these pieces have read much YA literature. Their blanket statements are offensive and just plain wrong. I’m completely in agreement with people having their own opinion about things, but do some research first. Don’t write a review about a book, make blanket statements about its genre you know nothing about and proclaim it as accuracy. I would think on a website like The New Yorker, this type of thing would just not happen. I was wrong.
Not only is the attitude toward YA literature disdainful and quite offensive, their attitude towards teens themselves and those who read YA literature is degrading. As though “young readers” do not have the mental capacity to understand complex themes or enjoy 3D characters. As if “young readers” are not really people yet and adults shouldn’t expect more form them than petty, self-obsessed actions. They make it apparent they know nothing about teens and don’t remember what it’s like to be one themselves.
Here are some of the comments:
And, really, deep down aren’t all Y.A. written to make bookish kids feel better about being bookish?
My answer: No.
They’re perfect evidence of another characteristic of Y.A. literature: condescending to the reader.
My answer: Sorry, but NO. If you’d researched YA literature, you would realize this is wrong. Sure, some YA might be condescending to the reader, but the YA I’m reading, which is a lot by the way, is most definitely not condescending in the least.
I tend to think of young-adult fiction as sort of facile—a straightforward style, uncomplicated themes and morals..
My answer: Like I said before, you really do need to go out and read some YA.
I assume that anything branded “young adult” needs to have a plotline that captures a teen’s attention, and also needs to be not too long or challenging.
My answer: This is just wrong. I mean, have you seen Harry Potter novels? They’re bigger than my head. And this doesn’t apply to just HP. There are many, many YA novels in the 500-page area. Those popular Twilight books you mentioned? Those aren’t short books either. Nor are quite a number of other very popular YA novels which you probably haven’t heard of because you did zero research. Or course, some are shorter, just like adult novels. Length is not what makes them YA. Also, teens are reading Shakespeare and really heavy stuff in high school. They can handle challenging. They like challenging.
I still can’t imagine kids Lily’s age actually reaching for this book over “Tropic of Cancer.”
My answer: This quote was in regards to a teen picking up this particular YA novel over Tropic of Cancer. Which again, just illustrates how much these writers don’t know about teens. They are picking up books in the YA section. If you’d done any research at all, you’d know this.
If you want to read the articles, here are the links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
I feel like I should end this with some sort of closing statement, but I have nothing except: If you’re going to write a piece where you make blanket derogatory statements about a certain type of literature, at least make sure you’ve read some of it first.
Five Things That Make Me Happy
1. I only have four chapters left of CLASH to write which is about 14k words, give or take 1-2k depending on how wordy I might get. Yay! Yay! Yay! This one has been the hardest for me to write, and I haven’t pinpointed exactly why that is. I do think the plot is a bit more complex in this one. I’ve had to do more research than ever before. Regardless, the first draft will be done soon. Yay!
2. After only a week of querying, a friend of mine got crazy interest in her YA and now has representation! Go Gretchen! (I’d link to her but she doesn’t have a blog yet.)
3. I tried Rice to Riches for the first time this week. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s this super famous rice pudding place in Nolita (between Little Italy and the East Village). I had the pumpkin flavored riced pudding, and YUM! It was the best thing ever, seriously. Go try it.
4. There’s a snowstorm coming, and since I’m cozy inside my apartment, I’m kind of excited about it. That’s weird, right? Well, in TN, it occasionally snowed but not often. And when it did, it was this light flaking that may or may not have stuck to the roads. No matter if it did or not, school was always closed (cause we didn’t have hardly any “real” snow days so we used them up when even the tiniest suggestion of snow was on the radar). So, I kind of enjoy it when NYC gets coated with a beautiful soft blanket of pearly white. It’s just the aftermath–the slush and piles of gray goop lying at every corner–that I don’t like. That and the cold, but I’m inside today so no worries there.
5. The holidays are here, and I”m going home for my longest visit yet since I moved to NYC. Almost a full week. It’ll be nice to see all the family, relax in front of a fireplace and eat pumpkin pie. Oh yes. There will be pumpkin pie.
On Voice
Do YA books need to have a certain voice? That relaxed first-person voice full of slang? Well, I don’t think so. I do think voice is important. However, I don’t think the right voice can be narrowly defined. I just think it needs to be unique and interesting.
Example One:
House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast. This is a perfect example of a successful YA series written in a very YA sounding first-person voice. It works very well for the story, and I really like how it sounds as if the MC is telling you her story.
Speaking of boobs–I was totally sounding like one. (Boob…hee hee.)
Example Two:
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. The series that really rocketed this whole YA thing off the ground. It’s written in third person, and while it has a very distinct voice, it’s very different than the House of Night series.
Bolstered by the destruction of the locket, they set to debating the possible locations of the other Horcruxes, and even though they had discussed the matter so often before, Harry felt optimistic, certain that more breakthroughs would succeed the first.
Example Three:
Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld. He has such a unique voice. This is another third-person, and since it’s in the future, he pretty much made up his own slang although I didn’t pick a quote that has any of it.
Tally didn’t have the strength to explain that she’d really meant her hangover, which was sprawled in her head like an overweight cat, sullen and squishy and disinclined to budge.
Example Four:
The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. This one is written in first-person present, and it’s a historical fantasy. I think she does an excellent job at capturing the voice.
I had expected some sweet little cottage estate, the kind written about in halfpenny pages where rosy-cheeked young girls play lawn tennis on tidy green fields.
There is such a wide variety of styles in YA that a writer can pretty much pick the best voice regardless of tense and style. I do think it’s easy to assume first-person is preferred because of the success of Twilight, but I don’t think that’s the case. Like I said before, I think it depends on the story. And how you want to tell it.