"Old" People Writing for Teens V

Sage

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Cheering you all on!
I started this NaNo not really caring that much about it but feeling like my September obsession in the world would keep me going. Well, I have 3 days off in a row, and have spent 2 of them emphatically not writing. In fact, I'm in a reading mood right now, and I haven't been much this year, so I'm letting myself follow that enthusiasm for now. I'm not missing out, since this was a story I couldn't possibly sell or share with anyone.

I'll save writing for the Flash Fiction Countdown.
 

Bookgirl2021

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I...think I finished this round of revisions (other than fine-tooth combing it). And it's even a respectable word count. 93.5k. I can live with that (although hopefully in fine-tuning I can get it down below 90k).
 

JKRowley

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Hooray for finishing revisions, Bookgirl! Strong work.

Sage, I am tanking at NaNo this year. Even my weak goals are not getting met. We will get through this together.

I am so down on my writing life lately, I feel like wallowing. I enjoyed the movie "Can You Ever Forgive Me" about Lee Israel, who was a New York Times best selling author who started forging literary letters to pay her rent. It was great fun to watch, and I could relate to her so much (except I've never been a NYT best selling author, that would go on my tombstone!)

I tried to get her book from the library, the one the movie is based off of, and it isn't available, but copies are on order. I do hope Ms. Israel makes some money from this movie.
 

CoffeeBeans

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Congrats on the edits bookgirl! I survived Nano, but I'm 50K in and the path ahead is clear - I'm seriously cutting down the scene list. It'll probably not cause any issues in the plot.... I hope.

I also threw my hat in the ring for #pitmad with an older MS because... I don't know. Because the MS exists and the pitches were already written I suppose. I got two likes. The agent seems pretty cool, the small press seems highly unlikely (everything they have on their site is very much not my genre - but their AW thread says they are nice to send something to because they give good feedback. The MS really needs feedback anyway...)

And now that November is done, back to the grind... :e2writer:
 

Bing Z

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I also threw my hat in the ring for #pitmad with an older MS because... I don't know. LIAR!!! Of course you know... you believe your MS is the next THUG and you're going to make millions and buy me lobster breakfast for the rest of my life...(which I won't mind :tongue) Because the MS exists and the pitches were already written I suppose. I got two likes. The agent seems pretty cool, the small press seems highly unlikely (everything they have on their site is very much not my genre - but their AW thread says they are nice to send something to because they give good feedback. The MS really needs feedback anyway...)
Good luck with the madness.
 

CoffeeBeans

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, OPWFTs! Hope everyone has enjoyed (or survived) the season.

And Bing, the like from Pitmad has become a partial, so your hope of lobster breakfast lives on...
 

Bing Z

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Belated merry Christmas and a prosperous, productive, and successful New Year to y'all.

Congratz Coffeebeans... I'm going on a fast to prepare for that big breakfast.
 

CoffeeBeans

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Partial came back an R - very polite form, but no real info on what isn't working. I wish I knew....

Robot season is started up and my writing life is demoted to one day a week. Seriously, how do you folks with kids at home manage this? They aren't even my kids and I'm absolutely strapped for time/exhausted.
 

JKRowley

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Sorry for the R and no helpful comments, Coffeebean. I sometimes go to conferences and pay for an agent or editor to critique my work. It is well worth the money and so helpful to have some direction.

I finished the first draft of my WIP and I feel so lost and don't know what to do with my time now. They say to let a manuscript "rest," but I am thinking I'm going to pick it back up in a week or so and start polishing right away.
 

MaeZe

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My ego is bouncing around like my MC's. I love my story, I think it's great. Then I stress about the YA readership, will they care about my MC, will they get emotionally involved?

My story is different, no dragons, no magic, not the usual YA fantasy. I love my MC. This is the story I want to read. And I'm a YA fanatic.

Ego up, ego down...
 

starrystorm

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I don't know if I'm old enough to post here, but I feel like this story fits here.

Sometimes I feel downgraded because I write YA when everyone else writes for the adult category.

When discussing YA characters at my college, some woman sitting across from me brought up a well-know children/early reader/picture book to compare.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Now there's nothing wrong with writing children's book, but it felt weird. I was so confused and startled. She later told someone that she had a creative writing degree and did editing on the side. You would at that point in her life she would know the difference between children books and YA books.

YA is totally different from children stories. A whole different mindset. I appreciate both. Maybe it was just the tone she said it in. Like the only "real" books are adult books. I still think about this from time to time. Some people just think that once you graduate high school, YA becomes this childish fantasy that they are way too mature for. Ugh. I'm glad there are people like me out there who think otherwise.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I work at a newspaper, and I often have to correct my colleagues because they call MG books “YA” and look at YA covers and assume “adult”! There’s a lot of confusion, for sure. Picture books are great, but the gap between a PB and a YA novel is pretty huge. (I could NOT write the former and do write the latter.) Personally, I think the YA skill set is closer to the adult one than to the PB skill set (which is not to say that PBs are silly or easy to write!).
 

Moonchild

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I went through a Creative Writing program at uni and I couldn't believe the attitude of most folks there: We're not even talking adult vs. YA... According to many of those folks, if a book is not ultra-high-brow literary, it's somehow lesser. Which is absurd, of course. Anyway, point being, I'm still in contact with a few folks who graduated from the same program and are still writing. They've expanded their horizons a little by now, but if they ever recommend anything YA (even the literary stuff), they still preface with things like, "Don't let the Young Adult category fool you..." or "Even though this is YA..."

GRRR...:rant:
 

CoffeeBeans

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I have missed you all so much. :Hug2: Thank goodness I can access AW again.


PBs feel IMPOSSIBLE to write to me. It's up there in the "poetry" category of "totally different skill sets I don't have" for me.

I do think lots of genres feel similarly about the reactions of people who don't read that genre. The romance writers I know all have a pretty impressive stack of horror stories about dealing with people.

The MS has gotten three more Rs. I think I feel okay setting it aside now. I'm mid-draft with another and I have two sitting at 2nd-draft-with-notes. Feels like an okay time to move on. Also I did end up joining my local SCBWI, and even went to my first event. Folks, they were SO NICE. I don't love being social (especially with a big room of strangers) but they were all lovely and weird and fun. So far, joining seems like it was a good plan.

(I can't seem to put linebreaks in. I'm so sorry for the ugly formatting...)
 
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borogove

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A few days ago, I got an R from a query I sent over a year ago that had resulted in a partial. It was from my first (and only) batch of queries I sent before deciding I needed to overhaul the ms, so I can't even get sad about the rejection. More than anything, it's confirmation that revisions were necessary, especially since the agent called out the two aspects my revisions have been focused on. I'd love for this to act like a kick in the pants and get me moving through the ms faster, but molasses seems to be my permanent gear these days.
 

edutton

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I have missed you all so much. :Hug2: Thank goodness I can access AW again.

PBs feel IMPOSSIBLE to write to me. It's up there in the "poetry" category of "totally different skill sets I don't have" for me.

I do think lots of genres feel similarly about the reactions of people who don't read that genre. The romance writers I know all have a pretty impressive stack of horror stories about dealing with people.

The MS has gotten three more Rs. I think I feel okay setting it aside now. I'm mid-draft with another and I have two sitting at 2nd-draft-with-notes. Feels like an okay time to move on. Also I did end up joining my local SCBWI, and even went to my first event. Folks, they were SO NICE. I don't love being social (especially with a big room of strangers) but they were all lovely and weird and fun. So far, joining seems like it was a good plan.

:hi:
Hi, CB!

I actually wrote a PB a while back, but it went in a drawer while I worked on my YA and I know it needs more work before it's ready to sub... maybe I should pull it out and see if the complete change of pace will actually get me working again!

I'd like to join SCBWI, but at this point that money needs to go to college. (All money needs to go to college. Thank goodness we only had one child.) :flag:
 
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JKRowley

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YA is writing for children, albeit older, almost adult children. It is different than writing a picture book, by far! These days a picture book is less than 500 words. Rough. I wrote one or two picture book manuscripts back in the day. They went nowhere.

I don't get it when people think writing YA is not "real" writing.

I love SCBWI and have been a member for many years. There are so many benefits! I found my critique group through them, shared hotel rooms at conferences, attended many events with opportunities to get advice and critiques by industry professionals. It is worth the $75 a year. And you put that badge on your website and add it to your queries. I'm told it makes a good impression on agents and editors, that you are dedicated to the craft.
 

The_Merovingian

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I still feel like a teenager even if my kids counts my white hairs (shrug), and my stories are proofread by teenagers :)
(Mangas and animes are great source of inspiration for plots)
 
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CoffeeBeans

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Proofread by teens? You're braver than I am! I spend a lot of time reminding the teens I mentor to read over what they are writing (or at least run it through Grammarly!)

JK, interesting you mention conferences! I just got my first email about my local conference. It's expensive, but not impossibly expensive. I'm on the fence about going. Anyone have any conference experiences to share?

My biggest concern (other than being pretty introverted for life) is that I don't have a project to bring as The One I Brought With Me. I have two about the same level of 3rd draft, and one that I'm pretty much over querying.... don't know if there's a benefit to me doing the conference thing right now.
 
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Sage

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Cheering you all on!
Updating everyone (because of the Christchurch massacre) that Kiwilady checked in on FB as being okay.