Musings of a Novelista

I’m excited because I get to attend my first writing conference of the year. I plan to attend at least three more conferences this year as well — and I’ll be sure to tell you all about them.

Springmingle ‘10 is sponsored by the Southern Breeze chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). The conference starts on Friday and ends on Sunday.

Here are the faculty and keynote speakers:

Jane Yolen, Author - Keynote Speaker

Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor - Arthur A. Levine Books

Meredith Mundy, Senior Editor - Sterling Publishing Co.

Josh Adams, Agent - Adams Literary Agency

Loraine Joyner, Art Director - Peachtree Publishers

You can also check out the conference schedule to get a taste of the lineup of workshops for the weekend.

And if you follow me on Twitter, I’ll be posting updates live from the conference. Next week, all of my posts will be about what I found interesting and/or what I learned from the workshops and faculty.

Be sure to stay tuned!

I have always been intrigued by male voices written by female writers.

But what I find interesting is that some readers complain that the male voice is “feminized” or not “authentic.” And I often wonder what that means.

Characters are unique — and for me, when you write a character that is a different sex from you, do you have to play up the “stereotypes” to make them “real”?

I believe as an writer — especially with male characters in YA — you must make him full fledged — which does not necessarily mean only instilling bravado, charm, or physical gifts — but also adding a psychological and emotional level — what are his fears, dreams, and past hurts? In other words, what makes him tick. To create a male voice is just like anything else — the search for the authentic and not the “status quo.”

Here is a list of some male voices written by female authors that I have found intriguing:

Sam from Shiver (Maggie Steifvater)

Tyrell from Tyrell (Coe Booth)

Alex from the dead & the gone (Susan Beth Pffefer)

Hahp from Skin Hunger (Kathleen Duey)

Neily from All Unquiet Things (Anna Jarzab)

Finn from Incarceron (Catherine Fisher)

John from Hard Love (Ellen Wittlinger)

Tyler from Twisted (Laurie Halse Anderson)

Do you have any male voices written by the female perspective that you find particularly intriguing? Would love to hear about them.

Most writers with day jobs or any other responsibilities can relate to the issue of time.

If you can fight off procrastination, fear of the blank page, and other phobias, time is really something that is in limited supply.

One of my goals this year is to accept the limited time that I do have. And not feel bad about something that I can’t change at this point in my life.

Slow and steady like tortoise instead of fast and speedy like the hare.

It will be slow going on this novel this year with my limited time. However, like the tortoise, I’m going to take it as a good thing — to really understand what this book is about, the characters, the plot, and the ever cloudy ending. To take my time and get it right.

Like the tortoise that wins the race, I believe the writer who makes the most of their limited time will end up with a finished novel.

The first book that I checked out of the library with my “big girl” card was the The Stand by Stephen King, so I can honestly say I’ve had a thing for dystopian fiction for a while now.

Dystopian fiction is also a hot commodity in YA right now. Publisher’s Weekly has an article Apocalypse Now that focuses on some of the books coming out in this genre.

So I thought I would share my list of dystopian books that I’m either currently reading or putting on my To-Be-Read (TBR) list.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

You can also check out a previous blog post,YA Dystopian Hall of Fame, for similar books that I’ve read.

I was talking with a writer friend who was freaking out over a recent sale she saw on one of the publishing trade websites.

“That’s MY story!” she wailed. “I should just stop writing my novel now because this other writer has just sold MY book!”

After talking her off the ledge, I tried to reassure my friend that just because another writer has written a book with a similar idea doesn’t mean that it’s the same story.

No matter how hard we try, there are no new ideas/stories under the sun.

As a writer, you come to the table with a unique voice. Something that only you possess in the whole Universe. With this voice, you can take an idea and make it your own. And that’s why writers can write a book on the same idea and create different stories. A story is created by the writer and not the idea.

It is disheartening when your story idea is getting buzz in the bookstores or deal announcements and you’re not ready to submit. How can you be sure that when you finish your book that you will even have an audience? That your book idea is now stale?

This is something to ponder and sometimes timing can be a friend or an enemy, but I also believe that good stories will always find a home.

Write the story you love. Don’t chase trends. Readers want a story written with your unique voice. An idea as old as time can be converted into something new and fresh by a writer who wants to tell her story.

I told my friend to keep writing her book.