You’ve just taken Pamela Protagonista, rebel goth girl, through the perils of cheerleader camp where she has scored a victory over Amanda Antagonistella, who was not as good at karaoke as she thought. The Final Showdown is twenty chapters away and you have no idea why Pamela would go to Kennebunkport nor how she will score a train ticket without Reginald finding out. You’ve made lists and charted character arcs and rechecked the color of Reginald’s eyes, but nothing gives. You are stuck. Hopelessly.

It’s time to take your writing off the “stage” of your manuscript and do some secret journal writing–writing that no one will ever see. At least, that’s what you need to tell yourself. Your story journal will have more in it than charts and lists. It’s a kind of conversation. I use mine to do the following things:

1) Rant. “The writing is going SO badly and there are so many bills and why won’t those women at the next table TALK MORE QUIETLY? Is it all the wine they’ve had? Why do I do this? Should I be a writer at all? Maybe I should have gone into real estate.”

2) Plan. “Today I need to not only tackle chapter four, but thread Amanda’s poodle through chapters one through three. Let’s see if I can hit a word count of 2k.”

3) Play What-If. “What if Pamela hates Reginald? What if he is the cause of her isolation? What if she really wants to be a Broadway actress, but her father forbids her to take acting classes? What if she and Amanda were originally best friends?”

4) Play Why-Maybe. “Why would Pamela hate Reginald? Maybe he humiliated her.  Maybe he thought he was doing something nice, but it backfired and he’s too embarrassed to tell her. Maybe this happened at prom. Maybe he invited her and didn’t show. Why would he do that?”

5) Write fake scenes. Tell yourself these are practice scenes and you’re not really going to use them. Then you can write whatever you want as horribly as you want. Often these scenes will stay in the journal forever. But sometimes you’ll find something the book needs–something you’d never have written “on stage.”

Want support and accountability in your writing? YA Novel Writing: Captivating the Teen Reader begins April 8 at Bellevue College. To register, go to the Bellevue College Continuing Ed website.

Filed under: adult writers, advice, Bellevue College, classes, craft of writing, motivation, YA Novel by katherine
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Filed under: adult writers, advice, books, coffee shops, craft of writing, Doctor Who, Katherine's Writing, motivation, NaNoWriMo, TEENWrite Workshops, WIP, Work in Progress, YA Novel by katherine
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Sometimes I hear myself saying that my life is “stressful” or “overwhelming.” My task list marches relentlessly through my Outlook calendar and I think I am unhappy about this. Last week, though, I began to pay attention to my life – to try and notice why I do what I do:

Monday: Come home from Spokane, where we have spent three days celebrating Pascha (Easter) with our friends at St. Gregorios – a community of Orthodox Christians whose backgrounds include Indian, Ethiopian, Armenian and many others. Hearing the Lord’s Prayer in multiple languages made me cry. Remember we are family.

Tuesday: Attempt to catch up and prep for the rest of the week, but indulge myself by writing a poem I don’t have time to write. Apprehensive because my calendar looks like a mosaic, but experiencing little joy flickers because of the poem. Afraid I am heading into a whirlwind and will be hit by flying pieces of mosaic.

 

Wednesday:

Morning – Teach Care and Feeding of the Novel at Sky Valley Education Center. Circle up with my teens and listen to them read their chapters and respond to each other’s work. Marvel at their ability to not only write, but encourage. Love it that my son is in this class.

Realize that the staff day at Sky Valley is tomorrow and I have forgotten to put it in my calendar.

Afternoon – Read the first, experimental chapter of my new project to my critique group, the Diviners. Receive incisive, but heartening feedback. Contemplate how privileged I am to have had fifteen years with these outstanding authors.

Evening – Assess students, plan, email, plan, assess, email. Ask for prayer. Fall into an exhausted heap near midnight.

 

Thursday:

Morning/Early Afternoon – Attend Sky Valley staff meeting, which is a blast. Talk with amazing teachers, watch a fascinating film on the brain (I am totally inspired), continue student assessments.

Late Afternoon –Teach Care and Feeding of the Novel at The Attic Learning Community. The sun is out (!!!), so we spend most of it outside acting — throwing the characters from our various books together in earthquakes, elevators and fields of rattlesnakes. Then everyone curls up and writes. Enjoy their faces, bent over their work, deep in concentration.

Evening – Finish assessing. Plan, plan, plan for tomorrow. Midnight or 1:00 – in bed. So tired I want to cry.

 

Friday:

Morning – Begin new Un-Writing class in Woodinville for elementary age homeschoolers. Some are a bit nervous at first. After wantonly tearing pages out of magazines for collaging “Secret Journals,” we head into the woods to figure out where our characters live. One of the boys exclaims excitedly, “This is completely different from what I expected!” I experience several hours of personal gladness from this comment alone.

Afternoon – Go with a beloved and brilliant writer-friend to a scary medical appointment. Since I can’t stay the whole time, another writer comes to take my place, tag-team style, as I am leaving. Awed by how writers are a tribe – for life.

Friday Evening through Saturday – Teen Write “Dangerous Liaisons” overnight at Carnation Tree Farm. Rejoice at having teens here from six of my different groups. Watch both characters and new friendships emerge over 24 hours as teens in capes and unusual hats rove the ponds and trees creating scenes together. I play a bestselling novelist who inserts her book title and Amazon ranking into every conversation. Watch the faraway looks in their eyes as they all settle in to write. Listen to them laugh and cheer each other as they read their stories on Saturday. Grateful that my husband, daughter and middle son are here helping, while my youngest is embraced as a participant.

 

Saturday:

Evening – Talk with Roger Thorsen, who owns the award-winning farm, about the June Play’s The Thing kids’ acting/playwriting workshop there. Feel suddenly delighted and energized for it.
Go to Poetry Night at Duvall Coffeehouse and hear my friend, Denis Streeter read from his first chapbook, Unfoldings. He is fantastic! Supportive friends and poets new to the Duvall reading, listen, eat good food and read at the open mic. I even read a few from my laptop, as I haven’t had time to print anything. Drop the last of my Teen Writers off at home.

Night – Realize that throughout the whirlwind, I have been entirely happy.

Filed under: classes, motivation, Teen Write Workshops by katherine
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