Tag Archives: teens

by | October 9, 2023 · 4:57 pm

Finding The YA in Learning

 

Murder. Secrets. Drugs. Gossip. Lies. Sexuality. Romance. Magic. Identity. Rumors. Breakups.

Hang out with a group of YA writers and you’ll likely hear these words, along with more provocative, dark, odd, edgy, far-out, intense, hilarious, eccentric, juicy, shocking topics. We love teens. We love big drama and conjuring a mess for our teen characters in current time or mystical worlds.

Other kid-lit writers often say we’re nuts for writing over 75,000 words. But we can’t get enough. We want to hold on to every word. No wonder our revisions can take years and years as we cut, trim, tighten hundreds of pages.

Thanks to my critique group, Story Spinners, I unexpectedly joined the YA writer “club” years ago after they nudged me to turn my coming-of-age short story into a YA novel. I was clueless and intimidated, but I couldn’t stop writing. I’m incredibly fortunate to be part of the SCBWI-Rocky Mountain Chapter’s YA community. And I’m in awe of how everyone cheers each other on at book launches and events by and for YA writers.

My fellow YA’ers and I adamantly long to be with our peers and find YA-only classes. No offense, picture book and middle grade writers. We adore you and your books! Just like our teen characters, we long to be belong; we want to be in a YA cluster. But, we’ll be the first to admit, we often feel like the misfits in writer land. Afterall, YA novels are a far cry from Middle Grade.

Perhaps that’s why our search for YA-only learning is constant and fierce. The past few months, for instance, several YA writers and I started researching YA-only workshops, courses, and other ways to amp up our learning.

Here’s what we have found so far:

Workshops/Courses:

Wordsmith Workshops https://www.wordsmithworkshops.com/

Vermont College of Fine Arts https://vcfa.edu/writing-novels-for-young-people-retreat/

Hugo House https://hugohouse.org/product/young-adult-fiction-workshop/

Writer’s Digest University https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-young-adult-novel

UCLA Extension https://www.uclaextension.edu/writing-journalism/creative-writing/course/young-adult-novel-i-writing-x-4451

Tin House https://tinhouse.com/workshop/

From SCBWI:

YA Connect and Other Connects https://www.scbwi.org/regions/rmc/events

YA Connect is free and offered every other month by and for YA writers of all levels to learn and meet fellow YA writers. Most YA Connects are both in-person & Zoom.

Michelle Begley Mentorship – Due Oct. 31, 2023 https://www.scbwi.org/regions/rmc/RMC-mentorship-program

Weekly Podcast https://www.scbwi.org/podcasts

Most recent one featured Deborah Halverson, award-winning YA author, including Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies and Honk If You Hate Me

Monthly Virtual Events, hosted by chapters across the U.S. https://www.scbwi.org/regional-virtual-events

Coming soon:

Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Denver – YA workshops, gatherings https://lighthousewriters.org/

Of course, there are a lot more YA-only opportunities out there. Share your findings in the comments, please. Meanwhile, YA writers: Keep reaching out to find other YA’ers. And remember, teens can’t wait to read your stories – and drama!

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Filed under 2023, Agents, craft advice, critique, Graphic Novels, Karen McChesney, Main character, Middle Grade, Motivation, Persistence, Revision process, RMC-SCBWI, Upcoming, What I am doing now

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by | November 23, 2020 · 4:58 pm

Facts From a Week in the Life of a Writer

I am ready for a game of Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy! Perhaps, I’ll actually get a few answers correct. No, on the other hand, I have no need for a competition today. After all, trying to get published is plenty of competition for me. I would rather brew up some tea and share a cup of facts and findings from my past week of research for my new young adult novel, a nonfiction kids article, and a picture book. Oh, how lucky I am to be a perennial student, day after day!

Enjoy! (These are not in any particular order):

  • In the 1960’s, farm kids who ran away from home were called, “field rabbits,” because they roamed the roads with no attachment to their parents.
  • According to an FBI report, in 1967, there was a record number of teenage runaways in the U.S. Some 90,000.
  • The Beatles hit, “She’s Leaving Home,” is based on the true story of 17-year-old runaway Melanie Coe. In the 1997 biography PAUL MCCARTNEY: MANY YEARS FROM NOW, McCartney recalled, “We’d seen a story in the newspaper about a young girl who’d left home and not been found…there were a lot of those at the time, and that was enough to give us a story line. So, I started to get the lyrics – she slips out and leaves a note and then the parents wake up. It was rather poignant.”
  • A high school freshman in California has a collection of more than 3,000 library cards.
  • The first library cards were probably issued at membership libraries, 18th Century organizations where members paid fees (and sometimes books from their own collection) in exchange for the right to check out materials.
  • Crows have a unique way of marking the location of their snacks. They don’t bury food; they cover it with a leaf, twig, grass or other item.
  • Ever since their 2020 audition on “America’s Got Talent” TV show, Brothers Gage have made harmonica hip for teens. 15-year-old Brody and 17-year-old Alex have both been playing since they were five. The harmonica-playing, dancing duo perform at events and school pep rallies around Los Angeles.
  • Some researchers believe that in the 1970’s, teens were running TO something, such as communes, freedom, cults, etc., whereas, today, they are running AWAY from things, such as difficult home life.
  • A strong simple first sentence in a YA: “My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood.” WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN A CASTLE by Shirley Jackson.
  • A strong simple character name in a YA: Uncle Big. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson, also author of I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN.
  • A beautiful turning point in a picture book: “Feeling unsure, the girl thought the best thing was to put her hear in a safe place. Just for the time being. So, she put it in a bottle and hung it around her neck. And that seemed to fix things…at first.” THE HEART AND THE BOTTLE by Oliver Jeffers, also author of THE GREAT PAPER CAPER and HOW TO CATCH A STAR.
  • In the early- to mid-20th century, most New York City libraries had live-in superintendents. They were known as the families that lived behind the stacks! And, all their kids had 24-7 access to books. One girl used to have sleepovers and in 1965, went on to hold her wedding in the library.
  • Early library cards were also called “tickets.”
  • In 1886, a library card for the Lowell City Library in Massachusetts stated, “Marking of all sorts on books is punishable by statute with fine and imprisonment, and directors will prosecute.”
  • In 1924, Oakland Free Library (CA) issued two different cards: One was “good for any book.” The other stated, “No fiction shall be issued.”
  • Darby Free Library, which started in PA in 1743, is America’s oldest public library.

By the way, a photographer and journalist came up with the idea of Trivial Pursuit while playing Scrabble. Photographer Chris Haney was always open about being a high school dropout, often joking, “It was the biggest mistake I ever made. I should have done it earlier!” The board game artwork was done by 18-year-old Michael Wurstlin.

And, in case you’re wondering… the word trivia is a derivative of trivium. The origin of trivium is, place three roads meet. Oops, I forgot to share: Peril is a synonym for jeopardy.

Hmm, maybe I am ready for questions. Game on! If my answer is wrong and I get the gong, I’ll simply say, “I Should Have Known That!” (a board game for young adults) and brew up another cup of tea.

 

 

 

 

 

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Filed under Karen McChesney, Main character, WORD NERD

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