Michele Regenold, Writing for Kids from the Boondocks

Revisiting old work

2008-04-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

I recently read with my newly honed MFA eyes a middle grade fantasy novel manuscript that I'd completed a few years ago. I've always liked the story, but ooh, baby. What was I thinking?

While it wasn't a total embarrassment, it's obvious to me now how much work it needs. For one thing, first person doesn't sound right for this story. This is kind of a gut reaction, but I think the story needs an omniscient narrator, which is something I haven't tried. So as an experiment, I rewrote the first chapter in 3rd person omniscient and sent it to my critique group. They'll let me know their thoughts tomorrow. Regardless of what they say, I'll probably continue with omniscient because it's so much fun!

I'm not diving into each and every character's head willynilly. I'm being selective and trying to control the narrator's proximity, which is like the movement of a camera to me, from wide angle panorama to close-up. One YA author who is absolutely a master at this is Philip Pullman.

I also need to figure out some basic things like what this story is really about, and by that I don't mean plot. There's probably an overabundance of plot. While I was out running this morning, in a chilly northerly breeze that required my full winter running gear, I realized this story is about faith. Not in a religious sense but in the sense of having faith in others.

Another tiny little thing to figure out is what my main character wants. Her external struggle is clear (because I like plot), but the internal struggle? Not so much.

Probably most Vermont College faculty tell their students this, but it was my first advisor, Rita Williams-Garcia, who told me to find the answers to story problems within the story itself. So now I'm thinking that a possible answer to the main character's internal struggle question is to give her a trait I'd given to her younger sister--a preference for realistic stories over fantasy. That one little switch could also play into the faith idea.

Agent search begins

2008-03-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

On my way home from a work/pleasure trip to the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, I finished revising my mystery novel. My critique group gave me feedback on it a few weeks ago. As I digested their diverse comments, I read the whole novel and noted things I wanted to tighten, tweak, and add. It's now ready, I think, to send out.

So I sent it the other night to an agent who'd requested the whole thing.

A few weeks ago I started researching and querying agents. I think querying is kind of fun. It's kind of like job hunting, which I also think is fun (at least it's fun when I already have a job and there's no pressure). I've used Publisher's Marketplace, Agent Query, and agents' own websites to learn more about agents and see if my book would be a good fit. Fit is hard to judge, though, just like in job situations. So much of this business is subjective.

Based on my research, I've made a list of agents who appear to be a good fit for my book. I'm querying a few at a time, beginning with agents who accept email or online submissions.

Yes, I confess that I am currently discriminating against agents who accept only snail mail submissions because email/online is easier for me. Of my handful of interactions with agents so far, this method of communication can be quick, which is good.

And to continue my whole laziness theme, I started with agents who request a simple query letter or a query letter plus sample pages. Agents who want a synopsis got temporarily bumped down my list because writing a synopsis is painful. But I did finally write one because it was a required part of SCBWI's work-in-progress grant application.

Some of my writer friends have asked why I'm starting with a search for an agent instead of an editor. I think this particular novel straddles a line between commercial/genre fiction and literary fiction that I think would appeal to an agent. It could stand alone, but it could also be the first in a mystery/detective series. An agent could help with this. Also, I think it's a little easier to find info on individual agents' tastes than it is on editors, which leads back to fit. A knowledgeable agent will know better than I which editors would be interested in this work.

Celebrating milestones under my control

2008-02-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I reached the end of a good, solid draft of my YA mystery. Hallelujah!

I printed it out for my husband to read for plot. He hadn't read any of it before so he came to it with fresh eyes. He finished it last night while I went to my book group. He had some questions about the bad guy, which will help me decide what additional details I need to reveal. He also said he had an idea for the sequel, so I guess that means he thought it was decent.

My critique group will get copies tomorrow. These poor women have seen revisions of the first 5 or 6 chapters for about 2 years, but virtually nothing beyond that. At last they'll get to see what happens next.

I'm also trying to be patient about querying agents and waiting until the manuscript is really ready. I need a break from it before I reread it and revise. In the mean time, it's nice to read, read, read and start thinking about a couple of other projects.

Post-MFA blahs?

2008-02-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

Not me. I came home from Vermont and dove right back into my mystery novel. Partly this was because I'd finally figured out how to get around the small hurdle that had presented itself around Christmas time and partly because all of my advisors want to know when it's done. Nothing like a little pressure.

So my objective is to finish a good solid draft and have copies made by Feb. 11 to distribute to my critique group. Last night I finished writing the climax. Even though I knew the broad strokes of the scenes, it was still fun to discover the little details of them along the way, living that first draft along with my character. I have 2 scenes left. I will have no problem meeting my self-imposed deadline.

I'm also going to be sending a chapter or two at a time to my little brother to read. He just joined the Army (as in he left for basic on Jan. 30). I told him that the one thing I found hard to bear in basic was not being able to read books or magazines. Letters were acceptable, however, and I gobbled those up. So I told him I'd send him my novel in pieces for something to read. He said that sounded like what J.R.R. Tolkien did with his son. I'd heard that too.

When I'm done with this, I have another novel ready to revise. I may try rewriting a chapter or two in 3rd person. I also have a new novel banging on the door, ready to come in.

So no blahs here.

The burgundy velvet dress

2008-01-30T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in writing for children graduating class of January 2008, the Dedications. From left to right: Frances, Mary, Barbara, Nancy, Margaret, me, Page. This is at the reception after graduation. Photo by Frances's husband Lance.

Margaret Bechard (right) and moi at the reception. Photo by Frances Lee Hall. Frances surprised us with her photo request, I think, so we didn't have time to get self-conscious. At least I didn't. I think Margaret likes having her picture taken about as much as I do.

Barbara and me at the Black Door in Montpelier for supper after the reception. The rest of the Deds were there too. Barbara was showing me how to smile for the camera. Photo by Frances Lee Hall.

Vermont College MFA in Writing for Kids and Teens

2008-01-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

I have graduated, hallelujah! Several students have told me they stumbled on to this blog and found the info useful. To make it easier for people to trace my path through this program, I put all the related links here, in chronological order.

Acceptance and anticipation (fall 2005)

It begins: Residency 1, January 2006

Semester 1, Spring 2006

Residency 2, July 2006

Semester 2, Fall 2006

Residency 3, January 2007

Semester 3, Spring 2007

Critical thesis fini

Residency 4, July 2007

Semester 4, Fall 2007

Residency 5, January 2008

Graduation from Vermont College of Fine Arts

2008-01-27T05:47:00.000-08:00

(From left, Barbara, Nancy, me, Margaret, Page, Frances, Julie (and cut off on the right, Mary) as the dean confers our degrees. Photo by Paulette Oxner.)

Tuesday, Jan. 22 was a big day. I had to give my lecture that morning and graduate that afternoon.

The ceremony itself was short. We had to decide a lot of it early on, like who to be our graduation speaker and who to read the brief selections from our creative theses--these people are usually faculty members. My class decided not to do an invocation, so that cut a few minutes. We kept the class's welcome statement brief too. We announced our gift to the program, a new hard drive to help make lectures available in more formats.

We asked David Gifaldi to be our graduation speaker. He gave a marvelous speech that was funny, moving, and personal. We asked Rita Williams-Garcia to read the selections from our creative theses. She's a great reader, and she's worked with half of us, more than any other faculty member. Since there were so few of us, she was able to read several lines. The selection is chosen by our 4th semester advisors, so we don't know in advance what they'll choose. I smiled when I heard the piece Ellen Howard chose from my YA mystery, Smells Like Money:

Through the windshield I noticed the giant sunflowers in LuAnn’s garden. Their heads were as big as dinner plates, their deep gold petals painfully bright.

I closed my eyes against their glare. Grandma told me once that sunflowers follow the sun throughout the day, their heads turning to keep it in view.

Since Dad died Mom liked, no, needed to keep me in sight.

The president of Vermont College of Fine Arts usually confers the degrees and puts on the hoods, but he couldn't be there. We found out that anyone on the faculty could put the hoods on us. We asked Tim Wynne-Jones to do it. The hoods are kind of tricky little devils, so he practiced before the ceremony. The new dean made the formal statement conferring our degrees.

We've always admired the beautiful organ but never heard it played, so we had someone play that as we walked in and out. Other classes had bagpipes for that, but they sound sad and funereal to me. The organ was nice.

The organ in the chapel of College Hall, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont. Photo by Paulette Oxner.

Lecture: "Solving the Mystery of Literary Detective Fiction"

2008-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

I was still feeling crummy last Tuesday morning by the time my lecture rolled around, but when a faculty member asked how I was doing, I told her I could fake it for 45 minutes. The number of people at my lecture was reasonable considering it was 8:15 on the last day of the residency. There were maybe 25 students there and several faculty.

Possibly because I wasn’t feeling well enough to get really excited, and therefore speak too fast, I spoke fairly slowly. I used PowerPoint slides to augment what I was telling people. This was partly to give them something to look at besides me and partly a way to help visual learners.

I started by pointing out the broad nature of mysteries and then zeroing in on detective fiction in particular. I compared the 2 main kinds of detective mysteries--the classical/puzzle mystery (think Miss Marple) and the hard-boiled/noir mystery (think Sam Spade). Then I compared detective fiction for kids and teens and got into specifics about how smart choices about setting, point of view, and character all help create literary detective fiction. I used examples from Wendelin Van Draanen's Sammy Keyes series, Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series, and Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart series.

Lots of people were taking notes. Afterward, several complimented me on the “clear, succinct” information I presented. I was glad to hear that because I was a little worried that it wouldn't sound coherent to people who aren't as familiar with the topic.

One faculty member, David Gifaldi, who's a former 5th grade teacher, told me I was a natural teacher. I laughed and thanked him, but I don't agree. I felt well prepared and I'm experienced at speaking to adults. I also spoke from notes instead of reading my lecture. So maybe those things combined gave him that idea. Certainly, I was flattered.

Sick during the residency

2008-01-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

I haven't been sleeping well at this residency, which I think has been going on now for about 3 months. It's so bizarre how time passes while I'm here. I caught a mild cold a couple of days ago. Then Sat. night I started feeling a little feverish, and in the middle of the night my stomach became upset. I thought it was the combination of a beer and NyQuil and possibly the Thai food I'd had for supper. So the next morning I went for a run, chewed some antacid, and met some friends for brunch.

Big breakfasts are my absolute favorite. We went to a place downtown for a brunch buffet, and it was gorgeous. They made omelettes to order and waffles while you waited. But all I could tolerate were 2 pieces of toast.

Shortly after brunch I headed back to Noble Hall to get ready for my lecture. And then my stomach started to hurt, I had chills, and I was getting weak and jittery. It sounds like nerves, but I don't get nervous about giving presentations.

So my classmates and a faculty member sprang into action and got the schedule switched around so I could go back to my room and try to sleep off the virus. Unfortunately that meant I missed 2 of my classmates' lectures and 1 faculty lecture. I felt somewhat better last night, but I think that was just the cold medicine.

I get easily tired and am heading back to my room for the 2nd nap of the day. I'll be giving my lecture on Tuesday morning, the last lecture spot of the whole residency. (No pressure there. At least it's first thing in the morning.) I may not be 100% better by then, but certainly better than I am now.

Reading from my work

2008-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

One of the graduation requirements during the final residency is to read from the work we produced during our time at Vermont College. I was a little nervous about this.

The night before my reading I went out for supper with another student and Margaret Bechard, my 3rd-semester advisor. Margaret would be introducing me because my 4th-semester advisor, Ellen Howard, was unable to come to this residency. I asked Margaret what she was going to say in her intro. I wanted to make sure it was nothing mushy. She assured me it was not.

As the day approached (last Wed.), my anxiety mounted, and I finally realized why I was so anxious. It wasn't the reading itself so much as fear of getting choked up in front of an audience.

To help ease my tension, I drank another helpful, foamy beverage during the lecture right before the reading. My classmate, Mary Atkinson, read first from her wonderful middle grade novel. I listened carefully and was totally absorbed in her story.

Then Margaret Bechard went to the podium and I held my breath. She said she had fun working with me on my critical thesis on girl detective fiction (she thought she had more fun than I did--not true except for when she suggested I add another 10 pages or so, which I declined). She then relayed some of Ellen Howard's unmushy comments--that I was an easy student to work with and that she was proud of how far I'd come.

When I got to the podium, I could tell that, despite the helpful beverage, I still wouldn't be able to keep it together if I thanked people, as VC custom dictates. Instead, I said I had to forego the traditional thank yous in order to maintain my composure. And then I read my YA short story about a family shopping trip.

As Ellen Howard had suggested, I had practiced it several times, so I was able to read it with inflection and make it more of a performance. It was easier than I had expected. And then I gave my advisors the calligraphy pieces I'd prepared for them and happily accepted their congratulations.

Graduating students' gifts to faculty

2008-01-14T05:11:00.000-08:00

One of the traditions at Vermont College is for the graduating class to present small gifts to the faculty on the first day. This happens at the end of the opening session.

My class had many discussions about this. Maybe I'm the most introverted of the 8 of us, but I really, really didn't want to do anything involving singing or dancing. We finally decided to walk in, with attitude, to the Mamas and the Papas version of a song whose title I'm blanking on but has to do with dedications (our class name is the Dedications). We wore scarves and sunglasses (except me because I'm wearing regular glasses). Even to do that much I needed some liquid help. Let me just say that the Vermont beer tinged with blackberries was tasty.

We gave faculty personalized notepads with their names, a cute design, and a quote from their letters to us. We also included silly candy and short notes that we each wrote.

Easy arrival

2008-01-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

I took a different route to Montpelier this time. I flew from Des Moines to Hartford, Conn. and then rented a car. I did all my checking in online so getting through the airport in Des Moines and picking up my car in Hartford was easy.

I'm driving a VW Rabbit, which was a lucky choice because that little car has some get-up-and-go for the hills. It was about a 3-hour drive, practically straight north, hilly and tree lined the whole way. The roads were dry, traffic was light, and the day was gorgeous--sunny and low 40s.

Everyone else staying in Martin House (literally a house on campus that sleeps 6) was already there when I arrived, so they'd already chosen their rooms. They saved me an excellent room--in the back where it's quiet with a beautiful view of the woods and ravine behind the house.

The sun rises a little earlier here and sets a little sooner than where I live in central Iowa, so I was able to see where I was going when I went running this morning at 7. There was no breeze and the icy patches were easy to see, so although it was cool--probably 25 degrees--it felt great.

It's a thrill to be here for my last residency.

Prep for last residency--done!

2008-01-10T17:17:00.000-08:00

I finished my PowerPoint presentation and my lecture handouts. I wrote notes to the faculty. And I finished my calligraphy projects. They aren't professional, but they look pretty good (better than this scan shows). And each one is on different colored paper using different colored ink or paint.

I even tried on the dress I may decide at the last minute not to wear to graduation. It went into my gigantic red rolling duffel anyway.

Probably the most important thing I'm trying to do the last few days before the residency is not get sick. My husband has a cold, so I keep snorting Zicam and telling him not to touch me with his germy hands. It'll be a miracle if I can stave it off because I'm ridiculously susceptible to colds.

Countdown to last residency at Vermont College

2008-01-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

This is my last weekend before heading back to Montpelier, Vermont, next Saturday at 6:30 a.m., my last big block of time (my husband has thoughtfully decamped to go hunt pheasants).

What I absolutely have to accomplish with all this lovely time before the residency because graduating depends on it:

Trim my lecture notes. I timed my lecture a few weeks ago and it came to 41 minutes. I have 45 minutes total, including questions. I need to chuck some more of the historical stuff. I'm sure I care more about that than my listeners will. They'll probably be most interested in the nitty gritty of writing a detective novel.
Prepare my lecture hand outs and PowerPoint presentation. At a minimum, I plan to give people a bibliography of kid and YA detective novels that shows some of the range of what's being published these days. But I also want to include some useful info, which I still need to decide on. I'm a firm believer that listeners who take notes will remember better than those who rely solely on the lecturer's handouts, so I don't want them to duplicate the lecture, but somehow support it.

What I really want to finish and intend to finish before the residency:

small tokens of appreciation for my 4 faculty advisors. These are calligraphy projects that I've been working on all semester. I've learned that there are just as many, if not more, decisions to be made about visual art projects as there are in fiction writing projects. Nevertheless, I found it rather relaxing.

What it would be nice to finish but I could live without:

brief, handwritten notes to all the faculty to go in the gift from our class to the faculty.

I also need to try on the dress I'm planning to wear for graduation to make sure it still fits. It also needs to fit in my duffel. Luckily, even though it's cold in Vermont, the rooms where I'll be spending most of my days and nights are usually warmer than I'm used to. So I don't need to take a bunch of sweaters. Still, winter clothes take up more room than summer clothes. So if I need to take 2 bags this time (because of special graduation/lecture/reading clothes), I'll just suck it up and do it. I'm strong. I can lug 2 bags to the airport and then to my rental car.

Semester 4 winds down

2007-12-16T05:41:00.000-08:00

My last semester at Vermont College has been a particularly busy one. That's my rationale for no blog posts between Sept. 23 and Dec. 16.

On Friday, I turned in my last packet of homework ever--the 20th over the course of 2 years and 4 semesters. It contained a copy of my creative thesis: about 2/3 of my YA mystery novel, an abstract of my critical thesis on girl detective fiction, and the bibliography of my reading during my entire time in the program.

I also slipped inside the envelope 20 news pages of my novel, which I'm determined to finish by the end of the month. My advisor won't be expecting that, and it may make her crazy, but what the heck. She doesn't have to read the extra stuff.

While the semester is over, the work is not. During my final residency January 13-23, I have to give a 20-minute reading and a 45-minute lecture.

I plan to read a short story called "Shopping." It's a YA story--my shot at realistic and literary. (Generally I write genre fiction because I love action and plot.) This story is a fictionalized account of a family shopping trip my family made in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1981 when we were considering staying there. I've asked my sisters if they remember that particular visit to Sears. They don't, which is just as well because I've made up most of it. One advisor wanted me to cut out one of the sisters, and in a short story, I could see her point, but I left the character in because they all play a role in this story.

Going to readings has never been my favorite part of the residency. Maybe it's because I'm such a visual learner. Without visual aids I get antsy. Plus the readings by graduating students are usually scheduled in the late afternoon--prime nap time. So anyway, I didn't get around to attending any readings by graduating students until my 3rd residency in Jan. 2007. I discovered that the grads use that forum to thank people--their classmates, families, advisors. Some grads get really emotional about it. At the first grad reading I attended, the student could hardly get her weeping under control. I will not have this problem.

As for my lecture, I'll be discussing "Solving the Mystery of Literary Detective Fiction." I have no idea how many people at VC may be interested in writing mysteries, but I hope this demystifies the process somewhat. It's been very enlightening for me. My prime examples will come from Wendelin Van Draanen's Sammy Keyes series, Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series, and Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart series.

And then I graduate!

Packet 2 response

2007-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not a particularly nervous person. I don't get nervous about speaking in public until 10 or 15 minutes before doing it. I don't get nervous about reading my advisor's response to a packet until I'm ripping open the envelope (or opening the email attachments). This time was no exception. While my advisor was disappointed that I hadn't sent as much as she'd asked for (because that novel outline took so darn long), she "loved" what I did send her. "Keep going," she said.

Roger, wilco.

This advisor is probably the most teacher-ish one I've had. In her letter to me this time, she gave me a sort of mini lecture about the importance of free time to a fiction writer. I think she's worried that I have too many oars in the water. She suggested that as long as I have to support myself that I consider work that leaves my mind free to subconsciously roam.

Most of my job is already like that. I'm not personally invested in it, so I don't take it home with me, literally or figuratively. But I mentioned Go! magazine to her and working on finding grants to support it. That is work I take home with me. But I like working on Go! and it's also writing for teens, so I don't really see a problem. It makes for some hectic weeks now and then, but I think taking Wednesdays off will help balance it all out. Plus, I have a lot of energy and drive. And it's fun to have more than one ball in the air.

Bloody, sweaty packet 2

2007-09-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

My 4th semester advisor, Ellen Howard, said in her letter about my first packet that she wanted me to work harder than I ever had before. She expected me to sweat blood over it, smiling the whole time as I see my novel taking shape after developing an outline. The packet I put in the mail to her on Friday had blood and sweat stains all over it.

The sheer quantity of pages in this packet was not amazing. The novel outline came out to 6 pages, single-spaced, and I submitted 5 revised chapters (about 33 pages). She'd asked me to revise the first 4 and 2 or 3 more, but 5 was all I could hack. By the time I finished the outline, I only had a week left to do revisions. Cutting was quick and easy, but adding new scenes was more time consuming.

Starting Oct. 1, however, I'm reducing my hours at work from 40 to 32. I'll have one whole extra day--Wednesday--every week to keep plugging away on my novel. Why Wednesday instead of Friday or Monday? A couple of reasons:

It would be too easy for me to fritter away a day in a long weekend because it wouldn't feel like a work day.
My semi-retired husband, who works at home as an outdoor writer (bird hunting articles), goes to shoot skeet (clay targets) on Wednesday mornings, so he will be out of my way, and we won't have to negotiate computer use (we share one).

So I plan to make more dramatic progress soon. My speed should pick up now that I have a plan to follow too. I'd like to complete a good draft of this novel by the end of November--sooner if possible.

Novel outlining

2007-09-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

I am not an outliner. This may stem from a prolonged and rather painful unit on proper outlining in 5th grade. On the other hand, it may also stem from my inherent laziness. Because outlining is a lot of work, as I have recently discovered.

Last night I completed an outline of my YA mystery novel. I'm sure I would not have stuck to it without my advisor, Ellen Howard, cracking the whip over my head. She was probably horrified at the state of my novel, which I sent her--all 160-odd messy pages--in my 1st packet last month. But that's to be expected, the messiness I mean, when you're telling yourself the story as you go, plus working with a variety of advisors.

But now I have this lovely (12 pages long hand, single-spaced) outline to keep me on track, and I'm very excited about finishing a solid draft of this novel this semester. And I'll get to keep much of what I've already written. I don't consider any of it wasted because I learned more about the characters and the story through the process.

To help me figure out the shape of this story, I used James Frey's 5-act structure in How to Write a Damn Good Mystery. I highly recommend this book if you're trying to write a mystery. I first learned from him some important ideas about getting started with a detective novel. For example, start with your villain. The villain's reasons for committing the crime and his/her back story drive the plot, but much of this is off stage.

So, although Ellen didn't request it, I wrote an outline of what my bad guy was doing first. It took me 2 or 3 days to get this stuff figured out. This helped me determine what my detective was reacting to once I got to my main outline, which took me another 11 or 12 days. Occasionally the progress was swift. Other times, like the night before last, not so much. I was mentally trying out several different actions in a crucial scene--when the detective gets caught by the villain just as she discovers proof of his villainy. It took me an hour to write one paragraph about that scene. (By then I should have expended about 500 calories, if there were any justice in the world.)

4th and final semester

2007-08-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the few hours before I learned which advisor I'd be working with in my last semester, I was having second thoughts about one of the people I'd put down. Please let me get Ellen, I thought. For whatever reason (certainly not because I've been good), the Universe listened and granted my request. I'll be working with Ellen Howard, author of historical picture books and novels.

Ellen knows Margaret Bechard, my 3rd-semester advisor, well. They've been in a critique group together for something like 20 years. Maybe I'll get lucky and Margaret won't tell Ellen how obnoxious I am. Ellen also worked with my friend Phyllis, a Vermont College alumna, so the stars are aligned. A fabulous semester lies ahead.

One of the best things about this last semester is that we students don't have to write any more critical essays. Instead, our primary goal is completing a publishable quality creative thesis, which has to be at least 75 pages long. This could be difficult if Ellen thinks what I've got so far is total crap and I have to start completely over. I'll know in a couple of weeks. My first packet deadline is Aug. 17. Ellen has asked to see everything I'm considering including in my creative thesis, so I'm sending her a YA short story and my whole messy YA mystery/detective novel.

Ellen works by snail mail rather than email, so the break between sending a packet and receiving her feedback will be longer than it was with lickety-split Margaret. That will be a nice change of pace. Also, I've heard that Ellen actually writes on a typewriter, and I presume she hand writes notes on the manuscript. How cool!

My goal for this semester, beyond getting those 75 approved pages done, is to finish (finally) a respectable draft of my mystery.

Workshop

2007-07-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

At every Vermont College residency, all students are assigned to a workshop group led by 2 faculty members. This time my leaders are Leda Schubert and Jane Kurtz. They've done a great job of guiding discussion and finding the strengths and weaknesses in each student's work.

But we don't use the word "weakness." Instead we ask "questions" about the work. Sometimes the questions are literally questions, like "Why is the mother so calm?" Other times they're comments, like "I couldn't visualize the layout of the backyard." These are some of the things my fellow workshopees said about the piece I submitted, a middle grade fantasy novel. Overall the feedback was helpful. Once I get back to that novel, I'll have a good way to get going on the revision.

One thing that I particularly appreciated about the leaders this time is that they both are conversant with fantasy conventions. Leda and Jane and the students who were particularly familiar with fantasy were also able to point out some problem areas that were specific to fantasy, so that was especially helpful.

We have a pretty good range of material to critique, including picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, and YA novels.

The students in this workshop all speak up. There's no one dominating voice. Leda and Jane take turns leading the discussion versus keeping notes about it. It's been one of the best workshops I've had here.

Faculty frenzy

2007-07-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

Each semester every student in the Vermont College MFA in writing for children program gets a new adviser. The days leading up to the due date for the faculty preference form turn into a feeding frenzy. Faculty members get ambushed and waylaid by students trying to make their choices.

Sometimes students are polite enough to ask a faculty person who's just sat down to dinner if they can ask them about XYZ. Sometimes students ignore a gentle rebuff.

Student X, as he climbs over a chair with his tray in hand after he's
already settled elsewhere: "Can I talk to you about what I'm working on?"

Faculty member Y: "Sure, if you don't mind boring everyone else."

Student X doesn't mind.

One day during the residency (today in the case of this summer) there are scheduled faculty interview periods when faculty answer the same basic questions over and over:

How do you work?
What do you expect in the packets (of homework/5 per semester)?
Do you use email? (not all faculty do)
Are you interested in ______?

I'm skipping these periods today because as a 4th-semester student, I only have to put down 2 choices on my faculty preference form, and I've already decided who they are. My criteria are pretty simple:

Do I like and respect the faculty member's work?
Does the faculty member show interest in/enthusiasm for my work?

We'll find out the results in a couple of days.

Resistance

2007-07-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

As my husband could tell anyone, procrastination is one of my worst tendencies. In his lecture, VC faculty member David Gifaldi described procrastination as one facet of resistance. Resistance arises from within writers and artists. Amen.

Another facet of resistance, he said, was comparing yourself to others. That's pretty hard not to do.He said if we must compare ourselves to others, compare ourselves to Emily Dickinson and Vincent Van Gogh. Dickinson wrote 1,800 poems and published 7 in her lifetime. Van Gogh sold 1 painting in his lifetime.

So how do we beat resistance? We show up. Getting my butt in the chair is sometimes the hardest part of all.

I told David G. at breakfast that I'd thought about his advice while I was running this morning. I was doing speed work on the high school track--4 x 3 laps with 1 lap recovery jog--and it wasn't going well. My legs were still dead from the hilly long run on Sunday and from climbing to the 4th floor of College Hall 3 or 4 times yesterday. My times were pathetic. I was tempted to stop, but just like bad writing days, I also have bad running days. So I persevered and finished the workout. If only I could remember that when it comes to writing.

Fictional truth

2007-07-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Rita Williams-Garcia (my first semester adviser) lectured on fictional truth and how it operates on a different plane than the truth of facts or non-fiction. People who regard fiction as something that's untrue, just made-up stories, don't seem to grasp that emotional truth is often just as important, if not more so, than the facts of the matter.

The core of the fictional truth is the reader/writer contract. The writer tells the best, truest story s/he can, and the reader suspends disbelief to a certain degree. If the writer violates that contract in the reader's eyes, the reader may put that book down.

I think that the main reason I stop reading novels is because of this breach of contract. I can suspend disbelief at the drop of a hat, but that disbelief is quickly reinstated if the writer gets facts wrong or even if I just suspect the facts are wrong.

I recently read the beginning of a novel whose parents are both US Army officers. They were both being transferred to South Korea and the girl refused to go with them. Well, for one thing, I really doubt that both parents would be transferred at the same time. For another thing, I don't think families are even allowed to go to South Korea and live with their soldiers. So right off the bat I was disinclined to continue reading.

Rita quoted John Gardner as saying that non-fiction is a "trivial kind of truth." I don't think that's a fair comment about all non-fiction, particularly creative non-fiction. Ultimately the facts alone don't tell the whole story or the whole truth.

Back to Vermont College for semester 4

2007-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Kellye Carter Crocker, fellow Iowan and Vermont College alumna, was right when she told me that the days seem long but the time flies by in this program. Just one more semester to go, which kicks off today. Yeehaw!

Our opening night speaker is Susan Cooper, author of The Dark Is Rising fantasy series, among other books. I saw a trailer for the new movie based on this series the other day. I'll try to find out what she thinks of the screen adaptation.

I arrived in Montpelier in a different way than usual since my husband is driving out to meet me at the end of the residency. I flew from Des Moines to Boston yesterday where my friend/classmate, Mary Atkinson, met me and drove directly to Montpelier. The forest-covered hills along the way were lovely, and after a quick 3 hours we arrived. And Mary even packed us sandwiches! I will definitely be buying her a nice meal or two as thanks.

After a nice mini reunion with some classmates I got settled into my room, which this time around I have all to myself. All students were offered single rooms without having to pay extra, so naturally we jumped at it. Each room in Dewey Hall has 2 platform twin beds. I laid on the one near the window and decided it was a little firmer than I cared to endure for 10 nights, so I hoisted the mattress from the other bed on top. I felt slightly like the princess and the pea, but it was more comfortable.

The weather so far is cooler than I anticipated. I may have to buy myself a sweatshirt downtown today. I didn't pack a single shirt with long sleeves. No jeans either.

This morning I got up about 5:30 and went for a 10-mile run (I'm training for the Des Moines Marathon). I headed north out of town on Highway 12. Lots more hills than I'm used to. There's one hilly mile on my route at home. Here it's more hilly than flat so my legs got tired a little sooner than usual. It was a little strange running by myself. I usually run with my Brittany, Diesel. He would have enjoyed all the new smells, and he could have helped pull me up some of the more atrocious hills.

There's some tree or shrub that gives off a strong flowery scent. It's kind of like being stuck in the grocery line behind someone wearing too much perfume. I ran in and out of it for a few miles.

I saw only one other runner in town this morning. One guy passed me on skate skis, which looked like fun. He also had the poles to help push himself along. He wore a helmet but no knee pads or elbow pads. Maybe he's so good he never falls. But he was skate/skiing in the middle of the road, which didn't seem like the safest place to be. Maybe he was trying to avoid the bits of gravel on the paved shoulders.

I carried a water bottle with me and left it next to a no passing zone sign. When I picked it up about 40 minutes later, I didn't notice the slugs on it until after I'd taken a big swig. Luckily I didn't kiss any of them.

Critical thesis fini

2007-05-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

Between working on Go! magazine (see previous post) and doing homework for my MFA program at Vermont College, I have woefully neglected this blog. But, at last, I have completed the major project of the 3rd semester--the critical thesis.

A critical thesis is essentially a long critical essay--at least 20 pages long. Not that big a deal, I thought, at the beginning of the semester. In my first master's program in English lit. (15 years ago at Iowa State), I wrote a thesis that was 60 pages long. How hard could 20 pages be?

Ha! There is a reason cocky people get their comeuppance. My comeuppance came in the form of struggling with the silly thing for 4/5ths of the semester.

I knew in January, during the last residency, that I wanted to write about girl detective fiction, and that's what I told the faculty members I interviewed for the position as my next advisor. Several of them (perhaps all) asked what my argument was. I said I wasn't sure yet. How could I know that until I wrote a draft? Apparently, lots of people know their "thesis statement" well before they start writing. Not me, however. I've never written that way. I figure out what I think by writing. Then I go back and revise and reshape.

So I did lots of reading about Nancy Drew and women's detective fiction. I dug out my old thesis to see if that had anything useful (I wrote about women detective fiction). And then I got kind of bogged down. Who was this thesis for, anyway? Who would ever read this besides my advisor? Was this just a hoop I had to jump through?

I discovered, with the helpful feedback of my advisor, that a critical thesis in an MFA program is a different sort of beast than in a literature program. It is (or perhaps should be) more focused on the craft of the works being analyzed than on proving some literary theory. As for audience, students coming along behind me in the program who may want to learn about writing mysteries.

Okay! That helped immeasurably. Finally I was able to find my focus and argument: basically that detective novels offer writers a powerful form for exploring ambitious themes, particularly for girls because putting them in the empowering role of investigator allows writers to tackle social issues and challenge patriarchal thinking about appropriate roles for girls and women.

So I covered a brief history of detective fiction, including Nancy Drew, the current state of girl detective fiction, and then the main argument. I focused on the first two Sammy Keyes novels by Wendelin Van Draanen, the first two Enola Holmes novels by Nancy Springer, and the Sally Lockhart trilogy by Philip Pullman. I looked at how these writers used point of view, setting, character, and social commentary.

It was all very useful for my own girl detective novel. Even though it took most of the semester, it was time well spent.