Month: August 2010

Posted in Uncategorized

Cue Theme from JAWS–The Synopsis is Coming

Posted on by beckylevine

I’ve made one of those decisions. You know, the kind that come with a load of goal-setting and self-commitment? The ones you start out sure you’re going to follow through on and then, too often, they go missing somewhere along the way?

Well, I’m going to try and stick with this one. I’m going to apply for next year’s SCBWI Work-in-Progress grant.

The application process is pretty straightforward—there’s a form, a writing sample, and…a synopsis.

Yikes.

I could very easily let the synopsis, heck…the whole idea…intimidate me into not trying for this. If Mr. Spock were here, or Data, we could get a whole debate going about the exact statistical odds of me actually winning. (And, sorry, Data, I know you’re a computer, but I’d totally have to go with Spock on this one.) So I’m trying not to focus too much on how many trips to Chicago that prize money would fund and concentrate, instead, on what I can actually get out of applying.

Like the synopsis.

How many times have I (or you) heard that writing a synopsis before you’ve finished your book is the way to go? That it helps you hone in on what your hero wants, how she goes for it, where the conflicts lie, and what power/strength she brings to the story to overcome those conflicts? And, okay, how many times have you listened to this advice and then gone off and…written the synopsis? Until, you know, an agent wants one with the query letter?

I thought so.

Well, I have written one synopsis, and it didn’t stop the agent from requesting a full manuscript, so I know it didn’t stink. But, hey, that book was finished. Finished like six times!  Whereas, a lot of days, thinking about my WIP feels a lot like this:

So I’m taking an online class–it starts next week. (And if it’s a good class, you’ll hear more about it here.) I’ll be learning the format/structure of a synopsis, but I’m also really going to use the time to try and pull some of the very loose story threads I’m working with into a tighter weave. I’m hoping that, by figuring out what I need to know (and highlight) for the synopsis, I’ll get closer to the big points of my overall plot. I’m getting close to the end of my first draft, so this seems an okay time to start thinking more about this. Not to mention the timing of the class fell right into the only two weeks in the next few months where I don’t have something else scheduled! Can you say “Omen?!”

I figure, whatever happens, this step will move me and my story forward. Do I want to win? Well, duh…

Then I’d better take it seriously and do the best job I can. Which, I’m pretty sure, means learning more about my story and writing a STRONG synopsis. So move over, boys…

I’m getting in the boat.

Posted in First Drafts, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday and NOT Being the Bear

Posted on by beckylevine

First, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Judge Vaughn Walker for declaring Prop 8…

UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

Yes, it seems like a big Duh! on the one hand, and I know there is more battle coming, but over here in California, many, many of us (really!) are dancing for joy at the breaking-through-the-clouds moment of common sense Judge Walker demonstrated yesterday. I have to tell you that, at election time, judges are often a category I don’t vote in, simply because I have never even heard the name of any of the candidates. Well, I will remember Walker’s name now, you can bet, and he’s got my vote for anything he wants to run for in the future.

Here’s how my heart is feeling:

And, second, the writing thought for the day: I am NOT being the bear. Did you all hear the news story about the bear who took the Corolla for a little joy ride? Here’s the photo:

Look at that bear. Despite the fact that he has probably already eaten the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich he originally went into the car for, he does not look happy. In fact, he looks, what? Trapped. Yes, that’s what I’d say. Completely stuck, unable to turn around, unable–as my husband asked about–to break out that windshield and escape.

Yesterday, I plotted a scene that makes a big direction change in one of my story threads. Early in the story, in this draft, my MC gets very excited about something, and you can see that she is hooked to the level of serious convert, that she will be riding this plotline and making it her own. Well, in the 100 or so pages since, I have pretty much dropped that thread, even forgotten about it. So I decided it was time to bring it back, write something about it, knowing very well that I will have to add a scene or two in the middle to support things. And I took the thread away from my MC. I gave it to someone else. Of course MC will be on the thread and will, at some point, take a strand of it up for herself, but for now she’s not driving it; her friend is.

Is this the right choice? Obviously, I don’t know yet. But it feels right for today–it feels like I am, unlike the bear, maneuvering myself (and my MC) out of a trapped position. I’m one of the deputies with the long rope that opened the car door (and then stood way back, I’m guessing) to let the bear get out and go on its way.

Is there some place where you feel like you’ve, even maybe, written yourself into a corner. Should you try backing slowly out and seeing if there’s a door waiting, somewhere in another direction? Don’t be the bear–check it out and see where it takes you.

Posted in Capital City Young Writers, Workshops

Capital City Young Writers Workshop

Posted on by beckylevine

Yesterday morning, I got up before 4:00 to drive up to Sacramento and talk to teens at this summer’s Capital City Young Writers workshop. Capital City Young Writers is the magical brain-child of Verna Dreisbach, and I feel incredibly lucky to be getting involved.

I stopped about halfway and rode the rest of the way with the other speaker for the morning, Linda Joy Myers (author of Don’t Call Me Mother and The Power of Memoir, as well as founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers. We had a great drive, got there in time to re-wake up with a bit of coffee, and then joined the kids.

Here’s Linda Joy and me at the workshop. Thanks to Elizabeth Donham for the pic!

What a great morning. I loved hearing Linda Joy’s talk about turning true stories into fiction and watching the kids listen to her and work on their own pieces. After the break, I talked to them about sharing their writing with another author, about how to build the trust that turns the experience into a good one, and I had them practice digging into a sample scene and coming up with some critique feedback. Which they did beautifully.

The biggest surprise–I had set up to do some role-playing, just a bit, and I’d checked with Linda Joy that she’d do back-up and join me up front if the kids didn’t feel comfortable. SO not necessary–there were hands in the air right away, and the kids totally got into it–even hamming it up a bit to get the right emotion into their lines. I couldn’t stop smiling.

The morning was, in so many ways, what I would have loved to be part of when I was a teenager. On the other hand, it’s very possible that, in my shyness, I might not have made it there, even if someone had set up the opportunity. But, see…yesterday, the opportunity was there, and the kids took it. And they seriously rocked.

As does Verna. She has put so much work into this organization; she is always thinking about what else she can do, how she can make something better. The day-long conference I went to in Marin a few weeks ago–that was hers, for the kids, with volunteer authors and speakers coming along to make an incredible event for them to be part of. She’s setting up a literary journal for teen authors this year, with teen editors, as well, who will be picking the material and preparing it for publication. The kids will have mentors who help them learn more about the genre they’re editing and give them pointers about doing their job. And, yes, there’s a new mentor on board: me.

I’ll be mentoring the editors for the Book Reviews category. Am I happy to do this? More than happy. I’ve been looking for a way to work with teens, for the kids and for me, and yesterday it was obvious that I’d stepped into another section of the venn diagram that is my tribe. (Don’t you love how I occasionally sneak in the math?)

Am I still a bit sleep-deprived? Oh, yeah. Was it worth it? Totally.