How Can You Learn From Your Writers Group?

Our last post was all about what a writers group should do to help you. This post is about how you can help your writers group, and in turn, get the most out of the experience.

Your Role in a Writers Group: 

1.  Show up. This one might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many members attend meetings sporadically.  I’m not talking about those who come to a meeting or two and decide it isn’t for them; I’m talking about those who come to every other (or every other other or every fourth, etc…) meeting for two years straight. They want to write, but don’t want to put in the hard work. Work schedules and home life can get in the way, but not showing up on a regular basis shows a lack of respect for other writers’ work and a lack of respect for your own. How can you get better if you don’t make the meetings?  
2. Listen to critiques. Even seemingly harsh comments are usually meant to help you, and almost all critiques contain at least one valuable insight. Don’t let somebody spend his or her time and energy reviewing your work and then ignore it. Not only are they fellow writers, but they’re readers, too. They will have some valuable first and second impressions. Apply some of what’s been said to your current work and future submissions. Don’t make the same mistakes again and again. That’s not getting better; that's stagnating. And like number one, it doesn’t show much respect for others’ abilities or your own.
3. Try changes. Insert certain changes. Try them. Test them out. If they don’t work, you can always remove them. After all, you’re the final arbiter of what works in your submission. Listen to everything, then carefully decide what to use.  
4. Read everything your group submits. You might be a veteran writer or a newbie with a novel idea. Either way, you’ll be surprised what you can glean from reading others’ work. You can learn from writers better than you, but also from those far worse. “Oh, I get it, do this, don’t do that.” “I can see why they did this, why on earth did so-and-so do that..?”

Remember, the members of your group are there to support you. Not only do they want to get better, but they want to see you turn in first-rate manuscripts, too. Most will cheer your success, console you during defeats, and live through your accomplishments. You owe it to them and yourself to submit the best work you can as often as possible. Learn, work and revise. Those steps will make you a better writer. And then, when it comes to your writers group, they’ll be happy to have you come to every meeting, and you’ll be happy to go since you’re improving your technique and talent. Participation makes you a better group member and lets you benefit tremendously from another’s expertise.

Part One: What Should a Writers Group Do? 

Help your fellow writers out: How have you made your writers group work? 

What Should a Writers Group Do?

Get the most out of your writers group after every meeting.

A writers group (or writer’s group, or writers’ group or however you want to spell it), also known as a critique group (or crit group) has certain functions. First among these is to serve the needs of every member, no matter what their level of expertise or ability. These needs will vary, but there are certain common goals.

Functions of a Writers Group:

1. Make you a better writer. The goal isn’t to make you a better writer today, but for every day to come. If you apply the tips and suggestions you received to the next chapter, short story or novel, you’ll be a better writer. 
2. Improve the piece you’re working on. Of course, a group must also improve the story you’re writing today. If members suggestions aren’t making your story better – or you see no reason to implement them – you may need to find another group.
3. Make you professional. Well-written work makes you look professional, but a writers group should also make sure your manuscript is properly formatted. When you’re ready to submit your work for publication, it must be properly submitted. You should know publishing terms and trends. You should know about upcoming writers conferences and what agents and editors want. In short, you should understand the publishing industry. A good writers group can help you do that. If it isn’t, research the business yourself and help them.
4.  Help you network. You don’t have to be a New York-based writer to network. Even writers in the most remote parts of the country will know a few local writers. At the very least, bookstores and other events will have them in-store for author signings. Meet them. See if they’ll talk to your writers group, or better yet, join it if they don’t have a group of their own. Use your group to network. It will help you achieve goal three.
5. Meet regularly. A writers group must meet regularly, whether that’s once a month or once a week. If it doesn’t, you’ll never achieve goal one (and it will take a long time to reach goal two). If you’re in an online group, you still need to submit regularly. 
6. Encourage you. Every writer, from unsure newbie to seasoned professional, wants to be published (or published again!). A writers group should let you know where you and your manuscript are in the process. Is it close? Is it far away? Is it never going to happen with this story? Critiques may sometimes seem harsh, but they’re the best way to meet goals one and two very, very quickly.

A writers group is only as good as its members, but a thriving, active group with lots of participation, submissions and feedback, is a great group – because whenever people are writing and rewriting, editing and critiquing, you’ll want to do it, too. The biggest advantage to being in a group is that it makes you want to write. And that’s the best way to reach the biggest goals: becoming a better writer and getting published.

So, if you’re in a group, make sure they’re doing the above. And if you’re not in a group, form one with these goals in mind.  They’ll make sure your writers group benefits all its members.

Part Two: How Can You Learn from Your Writers Group?

What Book Changed Your Life?

Last weekend, at the Rutgers One-on-One Conference, author Bruce Coville discussed a fan letter he had received. A reader credited him with her decision to join the Peace Corps. She loved his book so much, she even cited it in her application essay. It’s clear that My Teacher Is an Alien changed that young woman’s life.

Everyone has a book like that, one that absolutely changed your life. I remember the greatest compliment I ever received came from an African-American actress, Dee Watson, who said, “You’d make a good Atticus Finch.”

Why was that the greatest compliment? Because To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life.  It has stayed with me decades after I first read it, and while it’s impossible to live up to the standard set by Atticus, it’s not impossible to model your life after the example set out in Harper Lee’s masterpiece.

Life-changing books  are common in young adult stories as teens enter their formative years. It’s also true of books like To Kill a Mockingbird, originally written for adults but that serve as de facto YA on high-school reading lists. Lives, decisions, and character are shaped every year by classics like Black Like Me, 1984, Pride & Prejudice, Crime & Punishment, etc. And no list, no matter how complete, includes the thousands of picture books, middle-grade and

YA titles children cling to every day.

Fortunately, adults can find books that reach them, too; maybe even make them see the world in a whole  new way. I recently re-read Tommy Moore’s A Ph.D. in Happiness From the Great Comedians. It lifts your spirits in a way far beyond “the healing power of humor;” it can change your entire outlook by presenting practical steps drawn from the world of stand-up comedy. It my case, it even justifies the years I spent in comedy and the fact that humor remains my primary tool for dealing with problems and reaching people. One book – a how-to book taken from the ways legendary comics view and treat the world – really can help you understand how you can live your life.

But it’s children’s authors and their books that have the biggest influence. Adult personalities are largely shaped and readers seek out books of interest to them, but children, particularly young children, are an (largely) empty canvas. They’ll face new ideas, new concepts, new challenges. They’ll read a book ten times (or have it read to them!) and still pick it up an 11^th time. Even books that aren’t particularly challenging but that are delightful nonetheless – Fox in Socks, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, etc. – still create lifelong readers.

So whether it’s My Friend Flicka, Tom Sawyer, Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew or something no one has heard of (or you’re too ashamed to admit – hey, I loved The Five Chinese Brothers as a kid), there was a book that changed your life.

So let me know – what book changed your life?

PREPARING FOR RUTGERS ONE-ON-ONE A SECOND TIME

How did I go about preparing for this year’s Rutgers One-on-One Conference differently than last year’s? I didn’t really – except in one major way.

Last year, I was accepted after sending in a picture book manuscript. While it hasn’t been picked up yet, it opened a very nice door for me over at HarperCollins. The editor rejected it, but said she loved “everything” about the book except the main character’s species. Yes, the species. It’s a picture book, and that happens. She didn’t feel it was commercial enough (for future reference, please note that Harper loves cats, dogs, elephants, lions, etc. – animals kids already know. There’s a reason they’ve populated picture books for decades. I’ve heard this now from two editors and an agent). So she asked for a second manuscript, something “commercial.” I sent here the most blatantly commercial thing I’ve ever written. Again, she liked the story, but felt the main character isn’t strong enough to anchor a series. He’s too quiet, and not energetic or funny.

But she asked to see something else.

So I took out an old manuscript, reworked the main character a bit, and am preparing to send it to her. I’ve had editors ask me to send additional work before, but never a third time. Yeah, you can bet I’m sending it.

Rutgers opened that door for me. And that editor will be there again this year. I will find her long enough to say “hi.”

So how does that change how I’m preparing for Rutgers this year? It doesn’t, except this time I was accepted for a middle-grade manuscript. That means looking for something different in the 80 or so editors and agents in attendance. It means looking for those interested in both picture books and middle-grade books.

It’s a daunting task.

Now, editors and agents handle works of all stripes. Some love commercial, some love artsy. Some loved fast-paced and frenetic, others love quiet and introspective. They run the gamut from paranormal fantasy to issue-driven angst. I decided to quickly categorize my work according to industry definitions beyond the broad scope of genre and find editors who want that who are interested in my writing strengths.

Commercial? Check.

Funny main character? Check.

Strong hook? Check.

Fast-paced? Check.

I will only be pitching manuscripts that fit those categories. Except for overt commercialism, they’re my strengths. I’m up to the D’s on the editor/agent/mentor list, but I’ve already found three strong candidates. Even if I don’t meet them at the conference (since it can be big and unwieldy), I know I’ll be submitting to them afterward. Immediately afterward.

In the meantime, I’ll get to say hi to a very helpful editor from Harper, and let her know a third manuscript is on its way!

For a checklist on how to prepare for a writers conference, please read Writers Conference Checklist.

Bringing the Wild Things Here -- Thoughts on Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak, wonderful as both writer and illustrator, passed away this week at the age of 83. Below are some random thoughts on this, well, irascible individual.

When my brother and I were about 6 and 8 respectively, we had a conversation about Where the Wild Things Are. He thought it would be great to go to the land of the Wild Things, but I wanted to bring them here. Why? I thought that's where the chaos is. If the monsters came here, then this would become the crazy world. I liked the idea, even if I couldn't say so then, of bringing imagination here rather than relegating it to somewhere out "there."

In many ways, I think it appealed to Maurice Sendak, too. He liked to explore the darker recesses of his childhood, and in so doing, upset the staid parents of my parent's generation. He could be controversial, even objectionable, in words and images, like in Where the Wild Things Are or In the Night Kitchen. He could be philosophical in works like Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life.  He encouraged me to do be daring and irreverent in a way safer choices (including Little Bear) could not.

I have a beach towel that I received years ago at a PBS convention in Miami. It has the Seven Little Monsters and The Berenstain Bears on it. It's fraying around the edges and isn't a bright white anymore, but I hang onto it because it has a connection to children's literature and two author/illustrators I grew up on. Sendak's work had a bigger influence on me, away from the safety of family life and friendly messages, but looking back now, they were written for two different audiences with two very different purposes.

Now that we've lost Jan Bearenstain and Maurice Sendak within months of each other, maybe it's time to retire that beach towel before it's a dingy rag that disgraces both their works.

I don't share Sendak's disregard for children's literature today. It can be deeply philosophical with artwork that pops off the page. I wonder if he could ever spot the writers and illustrators -- but particularly the writers -- that he influenced?

Sometimes the influences are easy to see and sometimes you hope they're there. That your work stands the test of time. I know it will be around at least one more generation. On the day he died, I asked my 8-year-old son, "Which would you prefer? To go to the land of the Wild Things or have them come here?"

His answer: "Have them come here."

I smiled. I think Sendak has another generation of monsters waiting to create a little inventive chaos.

If you have a Maurice Sendak story or memory, share it below...

KidLit Buzzwords: What Does It Mean to Be Commercially Unpublishable?

It’s one thing to be unpublishable; it’s another to be commercially unpublishable.

Unpublishable means you can’t write. The work is drivel and probably deserves a place in the dustbin.

Commercially unpublishable means you can write, your work is really good and probably deserves a place in the dustbin.

Commercially unpublishable is far more kind and perhaps that’s why it’s being tossed around so much. It came up at least twice at the 2011 Rutgers One on One, and I’d heard it used several times before that.

What Commercially Unpublishable Means in Children’s Literature

Commercially unpublishable means that there’s no demand in the market for it. This doesn’t mean the piece isn’t good; it doesn’t even mean the intended audience wouldn’t love. It’s just that agents or editors don’t see a place fore it in the market. Take this example:

A picture book is written for children 5-8 years old. The intended audience will love it, says the editor or agent, but the picture book market for 5-8 year olds is dead because parents believe children that age should be reading chapter books so they can start getting ready for college.

Five or ten years ago, that manuscript might have been publishable. It’s well-written, has a great story arc and follows certain picture book precepts. It might even be publishable in another 5 years, if the market changes. But right now, it’s commercially unpublishable.

Consider other "dead" children’s markets:

Young Adult: vampires (market is glutted)

Middle Grade: historical fiction (sales down)

Picture books: Halloween (market is glutted), rhyming books

At least that’s what I’ve been told by various editors. They simply aren’t looking for them, though they always add the caveat: “Of course, there’s always room in the market if it’s well done.”

Which is the point Jon Sciezska, Harold Underdown and others made at Rutgers : it’s only commercially unpublishable until it’s published and someone buys it. Sciezska struggled to publish The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, but it turned out it was commercial after all. Mo Willems struggled to see Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus in print and then it took off, launched a series, and spawned a terrific career.

The market may not have known it, but it was commercially publishable after all.

Summary: Commercially unpublishable is frustrating but not as bad as unpublishable. At least it means you can write, but the market has no idea what to do with you.

Or so  I've been told.
Good luck!

What I Learned At Rutgers – Not the University, the Council on Children’s Literature

I attended the 42nd annual Rutgers Council on Children’s Literature this past weekend. It is a writers conference of high renowned and in that regard, did not disappoint.

Before we get into the words of wisdom and the what-editors-are-looking-for nuggets, let me say that I was happy to see three other children’s writers from the Capital District (yeah, us!) in attendance. Heather Schwartz (Women of the U.S. Air Force; The Foul, Filthy American Frontier), Victoria DeAngelis and Dan Masucci, all talented in their own right.

Rutgers One on One

My One on One was with Emma Ledbetter, assistant editor at Atheneum. We went over Leaping Lemmings for about 20 minutes or so. She provided several good ideas and seemed adept at working with writers, asking me for my input, etc. It was less a lecture or critique and more of a collaborative effort. We then talked about other projects I’m working on. She seemed most impressed with an middle grade I’m working on which is good, because starting that project was inspired by another editor at Atheneum. I’ll have to get back to that middle-grade manuscript very soon.

Rutgers Five on Five

Emma, of course, was also part of the five professionals in our five-on-five, in this case four editors and one author. Let’s hit the highlights of what they agreed on are industry trends.

• Mash-Ups. Everyone’s in love with mash-ups, you know, those books that take two archetypes and bring them together. Everyone was looking for the next Shark vs. Train (kids love sharks and trains. It’s a natural), or something similar to a new book from Atheneum, Zombies in Love (can be promoted on Halloween and Valentine’s Day).
• Crossovers. Something that can be sold in more than one genre, particularly with undiscovered adult appeal. A lot of YA has this (adults love dystopian almost as much as teen-agers), but so do some picture books, like It’s a Book. Also Zombies in Love. The book is shaped like a coffin for that reason, and filled with dating references and frustrations adults (zombie or otherwise) will get.
• Trends in Children's Literature. All the editors are looking 3-5 years out to figure out what the next big thing is. For instance, if three years ago you guessed food as this year’s hot topic for teens, you’re a big winner. I’m guessing if the economy doesn’t improve, food will continue to be big in three years. And so will starvation.
• Interactive Apps. No one seems to know exactly which way the e-book industry is headed, but it’s certainly going to continue to grow and print books will someday be a novelty item. With that in mind, editors are keeping an eye open for books that come with all sorts of bells and whistles to keep young readers entertained. Probably easiest for the board book, picture book, chapter book, and non-fiction markets, but all books can have pop-ups, links, maps, graphs, etc. Even dark, dystopian YA. After all, readers need to know their way around those mean streets, too.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say a word about the day’s keynote speaker, Jon Scieszka. His speech was funny (as expected), but had its underlying serious side, first with Guys Read, an organization he began 10 years ago to encourage boys to find the books they enjoy. As he said, he read Dick and Jane in school, but home had the books he couldn’t put down. As boys fall further and further behind girls in school, particularly in reading, it’s an important message and important work.

But then he talked of rejection, a big topic at every conference, as publishing houses struggle to turn a profit and seem to sign fewer and fewer writers, or keep signings close to the vest. He discusses his own struggles in the late ‘80s, with plenty of rejections for The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man. He kidded the four or five dozen editors in the room with the pain of that time. At least it felt that way, because editors often made absurd suggestions about his submitted manuscripts. Called them “commercially unpublishable” (another buzzword at the conference. It came up at least twice, plus I heard it on Thursday from an agent). He told them they “need to get out more” and said, only half-jokingly, “you are the enemy.”

Can’t say I’d go that far, but I understand the sentiment, even if, for him, it’s coming 20 years later.

To sum up, while Rutgers didn’t turn out to be my best networking conference, it turned out to be the second-most instructive and the most business-oriented. I think I’ll apply next year. Maybe with that middle grade Emma seemed to like…