The Critique & Meet idea is a monthly virtual gathering that’s part social, part critique, and 100% the KSMO SCBWI community coming together to help each other create. It’s like an open-mic night combined with a speed-dating version of critiquing. 

The goal is to provide a forum to meet other creators (perhaps even form outside critique groups), improve existing stories, and bounce story ideas off each other. Even if participants don’t create the specific category for a particular event, all are welcome to attend and participate in the critiques. The underlying philosophy is that we are all in this grand adventure together!

The basic setup for each virtual event gives four creators ten minutes to read and screen share their PB text, the first 500 words of a middle-grade/young adult project, or an illustration. After the presentation, a link is shared to a short critique questionnaire in a poll form for everyone to fill out. The results of each presenter’s critique poll are sent or shared with them upon event completion. 

The virtual session is open to any regional SCBWI members interested in helping others improve their manuscripts or illustrations. At the end of every session, we have a social block where we can hang out and talk kidlit, life, how dirty my office is, etc. Here are the Critique & Meet goals and rules:

The goals are to:

1. Improve our work and learn by helping others.
2. Make connections.
3. Find critique partners and form critique relationships. The connections you make are worth their weight in gold.
4. Discover/Remind yourself that you are not alone.

The Critique & Meet Ground Rules

1. Help not hurt. A critique is not a debate. Respect the creator and respect the people providing their critique thoughts. It’s all about helping each other create the best version of our work. When in doubt, choose nice!
2. Learn from both sides of the table. The creator learns ways to improve their work. The audience learns how to read and listen analytically.  
3. Don’t share the work presented.
4. Make connections. 

We’ve done two of these monthly Critique & Meet events and I’ve been happy with the results. There were around 20 participants for each event and the creators presenting their work report they’ve received good information from the quick critique polls. We’ve even had participants interested in forming a few local critique groups.

The moral of the story is no matter where you are in your creative journey, having fellow creative travelers along with you is a great benefit. If you are interested in creating or hosting something similar to our region’s Critique & Meet or have ideas to help establish/maintain critique relationships, please comment below. 

Adolphe Henri Laissement, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Middle grade is without a doubt magical.

And by magical, I don’t mean that it’s all witches, elixirs, and pixies. But there’s certainly plenty of that. You’ll find gobs of delicious magic in lauded books such as The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill and The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton.

However, middle grade encompasses so many kinds of books, from contemporary realistic fiction to science fantasy from biography to adventure.

What I mean by magic—is the magic of childhood itself. After all, middle grade focuses on kids ages 8 until twelve—the very center of childhood. This is when you’re old enough to have hours of independent time away from your parents and yet not ready for the individuation shuffle away from parents and caregivers. At this age, while friendships and peers rule the day, children seek the guidance of kind and wise mentors. This might be parents, teachers, coaches, club advisors or yes, a witch, wizard or conjurer.

However, you don’t need to write about mystical creatures like, say, unicorns in order to find magic. You just need to remember what it is like to be a child.

When I was writing one of my middle grades, Queen of Likes, I momentarily forget what it was like to be a kid. In that book, 12-year-old Karma Cooper gets her phone taken away. At first, I got right to this punishment and had Karma communicating her regret.

Wrong! I had forgotten what it felt like to be a seventh grader. Instead, I was writing the text like—gulp–a mom. At the time, I hated how my kids and their friends were on the phone in the car and didn’t talk to each other. I didn’t allow phones at the kitchen table. I constantly made them put their phones away. But a kid might feel different. She might feel as though Mom is patently unfair. In revision, I had to remember how Karma felt about her phone, not me, the Mom. When I had Karma name her phone Floyd, I got back into a child head space.

One of my favorite authors is Beverly Clearly because she remembered what it was like to be a child.

For example, Cleary’s Ramona Quimby, Age 8, focuses on tension over a beloved eraser. As an adult, it is too easy to forget the attachment that children have to small inanimate objects. Sometimes as grown-ups, we see things merely as tools whereas to a child an eraser is an entire sensory experience and imbued with magic. When Ramona first receives her eraser, this is how her new treasure is described: “smooth, pearly pink, smelling softly of rubber, and just right for erasing pencil lines.”

Unfortunately, this treasure is taken away from her on the bus by some boys. To an adult, losing an eraser may seem trivial, but to Ramona, it’s a catastrophe. From an eight-year-old perspective, it is not just a common school supply, but a “beautiful pink eraser.”

It’s so easy to forget what it’s like to be truly young. In order not to forget, my kids’ preschool teacher, Mz. Lori, would have us adults do this exercise.

1. Lift up your hands over your head.
2. Hold them there for 3-5 minutes (it’s not easy) and march in place.

That is what is feels like to be a young child out on a walk and holding an adult’s hand.

What do you do to get back into the child mindset?

Hillary Homzie is the author of the Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She’s also a contributor to the Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. She also is an instructor for the Children’s Book Academy.

She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on Instagram, her Facebook page as well as on Twitter

The post The Magic of Writing Middle Grade: It’s All About Remembering the Child’s Perspective appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Take it from Lisa Simpson:

via GIPHY

Recently I taught a new class specifically to help with this problem. The class proved so popular, I ended up teaching it twice: once at the Austin SCBWI annual conference and once for the Writers League of Texas. The class was called “How To Write a Novel Without Getting Intimidated” and it got great reviews, with attendees saying they felt more like they could tackle their project. I was excited it helped. When I first started writing middle-grade, I felt VERY intimidated and got lost often. Here are some of the tips I passed on:

START SMALL

I used to read books and think, “How can I do this? This whole thing?” Well, the truth is, you don’t have to do create the whole thing, not immediately. All you need to start is an idea, even the smallest idea of an idea. When I wrote THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST, all I started with was a question: What if a boy woke on a deserted beach with no memory of who he was or how he had gotten there? Big trees are grown from a tiny seed, and your book will start with a small idea. You don’t have to know everything when you begin. Discovery is a big part of the fun of writing.

A LITTLE PLANNING GOES A LONG WAY

Many writers start writing as soon as they have their idea. They get excited and want to jump right in. And that’s wonderful! It’s good to be excited. But not knowing much about your story can make you get lost quickly and feel like giving up. I mean, imagine if you got the idea to make pancakes because you read about them in a book. You don’t have a picture or a recipe or anything, you just know they’re going to be great. So you go into your kitchen and… Just like in cooking, a little planning for your novel goes a long way. You don’t have to know everything about your character, your world, or your plot, but the more you do know, the less likely you’re going to get lost.

Some good things to figure out up front are:

• basic info about your character (age, name, home)
• basic info about your setting (rural, city, another planet)
• your main character’s problem/goal (what they’ll solve over the course of the story)
• and the main obstacle (another person, aliens, nature, or the character themself)

There are plenty of other things you can brainstorm before you begin, but if you have at least these ingredients, you’ll be much less likely to get lost and give up.

OUTLINE A LITTLE OR A LOT

I started out as a pantser (writing solely by the seat of my pants and following the story wherever it went), but I quickly learned there are more efficient ways. Now, I can hear some of you saying, “I don’t want to outline. It stifles my creative freedom.” But done right, outlining can help to build your creative freedom! (I wrote about my outlining journey on my blog.)

To keep me from getting lost when I’m writing, I find it useful to have a map, even if I venture away from it. An outline for a novel can be as simple as just a few story highlights or as in-depth as a plan for every scene of the book. I like to think of mine as a GPS. I know where I’m heading, and if I veer off course, I can take a different route. Outlines don’t have to stay the same as you write. Mine change constantly. But having one, even a really basic one, helps me stay the course.

KEEP YOUR FOCUS

Even if you’re not into outlining, there are still tools you can use to keep you focused as you write your whole novel. Your story is about your character trying to achieve their goal, so as you write, keep that goal handy. One way is to write a one-sentence pitch. A one-sentence pitch has your character, their problem, and what they need to do about it. So for my novel ARROW, the one-sentence pitch would be: A boy who grew up in a magically hidden rainforest must figure out how to fix the magic before outsiders from the dry, arid world exploit his home.

Write a one-sentence for your book, then keep it available as you pants through your story. When you get stuck, pull it out and see what you can do to get your character back on track. If a one-sentence pitch is too hard to write right now, this also works with jacket copy. Write the copy that will be on the back or inside flap of your book when it’s published (because it will be if you finish and revise) and use that to keep yourself motivated.

REVISION IS INEVITABLE

I used to compare my first drafts with the already published books I was reading, and I’d get frustrated because I knew mine wasn’t as good. But I was forgetting that all the books on my shelves were revised over and over and over again. First drafts are just that: Firsts. Knowing that I’m allowed as many other drafts as I need freed me up from thinking my first draft had to be perfect.

DON’T RUSH

I get it. You’ve got dreams of walking into your local bookstore and seeing your book on their shelves. You want that day to be tomorrow, even today! But publishing journeys are loooooooooooong, and the best way to get an agent or editor interested in your work is to create great work. So don’t stress. Take your time. Even if you spend five minutes on your novel every day, you will one day end up with a full novel. Then you’ll be like Kermit and beat 97% of other writers.

via GIPHY

Happy writing!

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Fairy Tales, Folktales, and Archetypes.

The symbolism of the shoes in Cinderella. The archetype of the Dark Man in dreams. The Ugly Duckling. The Baba Yaga. I’ve dug up old stories, new to me stories, and some new ways of thinking in the following books.

Fearless Girls and Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters

Dismayed by the predominance of male protagonists in her daughters’ books, Kathleen Ragan set out to collect the stories of our forgotten heroines. Gathered from around the world, from regions as diverse as sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, from North and South American Indian cultures and New World settlers, from Asia and the Middle East, these 100 folktales celebrate strong female heroines.

Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters is for all women who are searching to define who they are, to redefine the world and shape their collective sensibility. It is for men who want to know more about what it means to be a woman. It is for our daughters and our sons, so that they can learn to value all kinds of courage, courage in battle and the courage of love. It is for all of us to help build a more just vision of woman.

Women Who Run With the Wolves

Within every woman there is a wild and natural creature, a powerful force, filled with good instincts, passionate creativity, and ageless knowing. Her name is Wild Woman, but she is an endangered species. Though the gifts of wildish nature come to us at birth, society’s attempt to “civilize” us into rigid roles has plundered this treasure, and muffled the deep, life-giving messages of our own souls. Without Wild Woman, we become over-domesticated, fearful, uncreative, trapped. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., Jungian analyst and cantadora storyteller, shows how woman’s vitality can be restored through what she calls “psychic archeological digs” into the bins of the female unconscious. In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Estes uses multicultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories chosen from over twenty years of research that help women reconnect with the healthy, instinctual, visionary attributes of the Wild Woman archetype. Dr. Estes collects the bones of many stories, looking for the archetypal motifs that set a woman’s inner life into motion. “La Loba” teaches about the transformative function of the psyche. In “Bluebeard,” we learn what to do with wounds that will not heal; in “Skeleton Woman,” we glimpse the mystical power of relationship and how dead feelings can be revived; “Vasalisa the Wise” brings our lost womanly instincts to the surface again; “The Handless Maiden” recovers the Wild Woman initiation rites; and “The Little Match Girl” warns against the insidious dangers of a life spent in fantasy. In these and other stories, we focus on the many qualities of Wild Woman. We retrieve, examine, love, and understand her, and hold her against our deep psyches as one whois both magic and medicine. In Women Who Run with the Wolves, Dr. Estes has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and lifegiving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul.

Creative Kick Starters

I picked up a couple of old favorites and some new reads for a fresh perspective, a pep talk, and a reminder to just keep going.

Big Magic:  Creative Living Beyond Fear

A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life… I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.” –PopSugar

From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.

Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

Keep Going:  10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad

In his previous books Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work!, both New York Times bestsellers, Austin Kleon gave readers the keys to unlock their creativity and showed them how to become known. Now he offers his most inspiring work yet, with ten simple rules for how to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself–for life.

The creative life is not a linear journey to a finish line, it’s a loop–so find a daily routine, because today is the only day that matters. Disconnect from the world to connect with yourself–sometimes you just have to switch into airplane mode. Keep Going celebrates getting outdoors and taking a walk (as director Ingmar Bergman told his daughter, “The demons hate fresh air”). Pay attention, and especially pay attention to what you pay attention to. Worry less about getting things done, and more about the worth of what you’re doing. Instead of focusing on making your mark, work to leave things better than you found them.

Keep Going and its timeless, practical, and ethical principles are for anyone trying to sustain a meaningful and productive life.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere, The War of Art is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul.
What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor-be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?

Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself.Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life.

Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer

Julia Cameron has been teaching the world about creativity since her seminal book, The Artist’s Way, first broke open the conversation around art. Now, in Write for Life, she turns to one of the subjects closest to her heart: the art and practice of writing.

Over the course of six weeks, Cameron carefully guides readers step by step through the creative process. This latest guide in the Artist’s Way Series:

– Introduces a new tool and expands on powerful tried and true methods.
– Gently guides readers through many common creative issues — from procrastinating and getting started, to dealing with doubt, deadlines, and “crazymakers.”
– Will help you reach your goals, whether your project is a novel, poetry, screenplay, standup, or songwriting.

With the learned experience of a lifetime of writing, Cameron gives readers practical tools to start, pursue, and finish their writing project. Write for Life is an essential read for writers who have completed The Artist’s Way and are looking to continue their creative journey or new writers who are just putting pen to paper.

The Creative Fire: Myths and Stories on the Cycles of Creativity

In Search of La Chispa: The Elemental Source of Your Creativity

An expanded edition of the classic on creativity by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, this spoken-word masterpiece guides you through the dark labyrinths of the psyche in search of la chispa–the ember that is the elemental source of all creative work.

Dr. Estés teaches about the hidden aspects of creativity, including the negative complexes that prey upon creative energy. The Creative Fire includes many special insights for people who create for a living: artists, writers, teachers, and others who must depend on their creative instincts every day.

Fun

I treated myself to some books that were just fun. Playful books. Silly books. Joy for joy’s sake books.

Fortunately, the Milk

An absolute delight of a madcap story for the young (and young-at-heart) by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with equal parts pirates and piranhas, adventure and aliens, oddity and love.

“I bought the milk,” said my father. “I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.”

“Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see every day. And then something odd happened.”

Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young.

Framed

Get to know the only kid on the FBI Director’s speed dial and several international criminals’ most wanted lists all because of his Theory of All Small Things in this hilarious start to a brand-new middle grade mystery series.

So you’re only halfway through your homework and the Director of the FBI keeps texting you for help…What do you do? Save your grade? Or save the country?

If you’re Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both.

Florian is twelve years old and has just moved to Washington. He’s learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things. It’s a technique he invented to solve life’s little mysteries such as: where to sit on the on the first day of school, or which Chinese restaurant has the best eggrolls.

But when he teaches it to his new friend Margaret, they uncover a mystery that isn’t little. In fact, it’s HUGE, and it involves the National Gallery, the FBI, and a notorious crime syndicate known as EEL.

Can Florian decipher the clues and finish his homework in time to help the FBI solve the case?

I’m still trekking through the woods, but I’m starting to see the beginnings of a pathway out of the creative darkness. The breadcrumbs left by these books helped me. How about you? What are your go-to reads during tough creative times? I’d love it if you’d share in the comments.

The post Creativity Boosts appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

I’m not exactly kidding. Patricia Highsmith apparently started her writing sessions off with a stiff drink; Truman Capote claimed he could only write when horizontal, coffee and a cigarette in hand; Haruki Murakami has said that when he is writing a novel he wakes at 4 am and works for five or six hours straights, runs or swims in the afternoon, and goes to bed by 9 pm. 

I do have a Pavlovian response when I hear the opening bars of Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin in G, K.301:2. Allegro

As a mother of four kids running a busy home, however, I can’t really afford to get too picky about a lot of that stuff. Mostly I need to do whatever I can to carve out time, and try and use it to the best of my ability. That includes: not peeking at the myriad tabs open as I compare ballet tights, dog food, birthday gifts, name labels on sale, other items on sale; ignoring pinging from any number of WhatsApp groups re: carpools, playdates, football training; not scheduling doctor/dentist/hairdresser appointments; and not checking something else off the endless to-do list. I do have music that I like to listen to when I write. With Honey and Me I basically listened to a Mozart for Morning Coffee CD I had from my kids until eventually technology advanced but I was still slogging away and I switched to Mozart for Study playlists on Spotify. I don’t actually know anything about classical music, but when I hear the opening bars of Sonata for Piano and Violin in G, K.301:2. Allegro my mind jumps to my characters Milla and Honey and their world. 

But I can also write in cafes, on airplanes and anywhere there’s white noise rather than the mom-specific noise of someone asking me what’s for dinner or have I seen their shin pads. 

There is one ritual I do have though. It’s not exclusive, meaning I can write without it and otherwise go about my day. But it does bring me joy and internal structure—an expectation of what I’m meant to be doing— and there’s something to be said for that. 

My ritual is: mugs.

The first thing to know is that I drink tea all day long. Green tea until 2 pm. And then chamomile, and sometimes rooibos or mint. But that’s not really the important part. The important ritualistic part is which mug I am drinking said tea in. I used to have two. One has Elvis Presley on it. It comes from an Elvis-themed truck stop on the road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It was purchased for me by a taxi driver who took me from Tel Aviv to the cemetery just outside Jerusalem where my friend had buried her son; waited for me during the service, standing on the outskirts with a kippa from his glove compartment; and then took me back to my children waiting for me at a hotel in Tel Aviv before we returned to London later that day. But first he wanted to show me the Elvis truck stop and bought me a cup of tea with the mug as a souvenir. 

 The Elvis mug

This is the mug I use when it is family time. When I’m using that mug I am not wishing that I could be sitting at my computer. I am counting my blessings for my family and their health— mental and physical. Even when I’m making four different dinners. Even in the depths of lockdown where boundaries in general did not seem to exist. When I take out that mug it’s a choice and a statement that I will try to be in the moment with my family and whatever needs doing for them, and not trying to split my time between my writing and them, giving not enough to either.

The writing mugs (Parts I and II)

My second mug used to be a Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators mug. Purchased by me, for me, at an SCBWI British Isles conference many years ago, this was my work mode mug. When I was using that mug it meant that I did not want to be called by school to come get my sick child. Alas, sometimes that was the case. Because that’s life. But taking out that mug was a choice and a gesture that this writing part of me was important and deserved space. 

Unfortunately, a few months ago this mug broke. Don’t ask me how, no one will tell me. My husband glued the handle back on but a chunk was missing. I was going through a Harry Styles thing (I mean, who wasn’t?) and my older daughter, both mortified and milking it for laugh-at-mom value bought me a “You’re So Golden” mug as a replacement work mug. It’s a good one, although it’s a bit more irreverent and less earnest than the SCBWI one. I use it for work, but also sometimes when I need a bit of pep. It should also be said that since my book was published, I have found the definition of work to be different. Rather than just going into my home office to write, I am suddenly running another small business — essentially a marketing and PR firm for my book. It is such different and unexpected work. But perhaps that’s another blog post.

The author mode mug

The point is the lines have been blurred a bit and luckily I now have a THIRD mug which is taking its ritualistic place in my life. Just before Honey and Me was published I got a mystery package in the mail, with handwriting that was extremely familiar but too out of context to place, especially because it had been so long since I’d last seen it. To my shock and utter delight, it was a mug made into the jacket cover of Honey and Me, sent from my oldest best friend Stephanie. I still can’t get over it. It’s hard to say how much this mug means to me. Having the love and support of my friends for one thing. Having a friend who has known me since I was four. Having written a book about friendship and to feel this support from my own friend. Seeing the jacket cover on a mug and feeling OMG this is real, I am about to be a published author. There’s probably more to it that I can’t even harness and pick out the strands of what and how much it means to me, but basically I suspect I have written this whole blog post as an excuse to show off this mug!

So the Honey and Me mug I use when I am in what I think I will call “author mode.” Sometimes I am afraid to take it out lest I drop it and break it. Say what you will about the fragility with which I consider this new mode of being for me: “author.” Other times I sip from it proudly or at least try to own it. The book is published and I am proud of it. I love how people are connecting to it. I love talking to kids who have read it! And it’s been an added surprise and bonus to talk to all the  adults who have read it and related to it, no matter their background.

All I know is, I hope my mugs don’t break. I hope that people everywhere love my book. I hope I have more books in me. I hope my family stays safe. Even without my mugs these are my hopes and fears. 

Ritual shmitual. 

The post Some thoughts on Writing and RITUALS appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

My wife and I digested this new revelation, both of us trying to remember when we’d ever asked him to count to 40 (I’m all for the functional application of kindergarten math, but I don’t think we have 40 of anything in our house). To prove her point, the teacher called to him on the other side of the room, and sure enough, he shouted back, “37…38…39…20…21…”

“There you go,” she said to us with a slight shrug. But then she did the teacher thing and helped him on the spot, talking him through the numbers until he broke through the invisible wall between 39 and 40. If she hadn’t intervened, I wonder if we might still be in that conference listening to him count.

We all get stuck sometimes, and I’m especially prone to this tendency in my writing. My plot hits a snag or I can’t get a character motivation quite right, and it’s like getting caught in a loop. I’m missing something, but since I don’t know what it is, I’m stuck repeating the same mistakes and landing in the same place I started. I need someone like my son’s kindergarten teacher to shout the numbers from across the room so I can figure out where I’ve gone wrong. For most writers, this takes the form of a critique partner or a critique group. They’re the people in our lives who listen to us count and tell us when we’ve accidentally skipped back to 20. 

But getting connected with critique partners can be a daunting task. It’s not as simple as  walking into a parent-teacher conference and knowing that the person on the other side of the desk is uniquely equipped to help you solve your problems. And what’s worse — these aren’t just meaningless numbers. They’re words…your words. Words you probably spent months or even years poring over and fine-tuning. I’ve been there. I know it’s scary. But it’s not as scary as being stuck at the number 39 and never even realizing it, so take the leap with me and consider these options to help you break out of the loop and find the number 40.

SCBWI Local Critique Groups

If you’re a member of SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), you may not have realized that it’s one of the best places to get involved in a critique group. Start by reaching out to your local chapter, since every region does things slightly differently. There’s also the SCBWI blueboard, which can be a little challenging to navigate, but does provide a forum for getting connected with other authors. I actually found two or three long-time critique partners through the Blueboard, one of whom eventually connected me with my literary agent!

Facebook Groups

Even with all the other social media options out there, Facebook remains one of the best ways for writers to connect, get advice, and collaborate with fellow creators. There are even a few groups that exist almost entirely for the purpose of exchanging manuscripts and critiques. My favorite for this purpose is Kidlit411 manuscript swap but there is also Middle Grade Fictions Writers, where authors often post looking for critique swaps or beta readers. 

The Writer’s Match

This highly organized system developed by Megan Taraszkiewicz was created with the purpose of connecting like-minded writers. It’s completely free and could be a great way to establish some new critique partnerships that are tailored to your specific interests and needs.

Critique Circle

Critique Circle is one of the most equitable ways to give and receive feedback. Writers earn credits by critiquing others’ work, which can then be applied to posting work and receiving feedback. When using the system, I always found that reading the work of others was just as valuable as the credits, since giving critiques can often be just as insightful as getting them!

Additional Lists and Resources

I’m hardly the first author to compile this information, and there are plenty of other blogs and articles that cover the topic. A few of my favorites include Carrie Finison‘s very helpful (and much more comprehensive) list of critique resources, as well as Jane Friedman’s article on how to find the right critique group. 

I hope this list has helped you find some motivation to get others in front of your work. It’s been a revelation for me, and I know I’m not the only one who found a jolt of new energy and progress after summoning the courage to let someone else take a peek at that beloved but oh-so-flawed manuscript. You can do it! In fact, let’s practice together right now:

37…38…39…

The post Finding 40: How to Discover Critique Partners and Elevate Your Writing appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Jumping into writing new types of books can be daunting. Children’s books aren’t like writing for adults. As well as genre, we have to consider the ages of our readers, their voice, language, vocabulary and more. And some book categories have specific things that traditional publishers are looking for. Early readers and chapters books are nearly always series, so the story has to be designed to continue in future stand-alone books. In middle-grade, there are younger middle-grade novels that are thinner, much like the AMERICAN HORSE TALES series, of which my HOLLYWOOD is one, and Christina Soontornvat’s new LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND series. But there are also the longer, more complex middle-grade novels too. Analyzing what publishers are publishing, and readers are reading, can help us craft our best stories.

I used this technique a lot when I first started working on chapter books. I had the opportunity to audition for a new unicorn chapter book series. Since I hadn’t written a chapter book at that time (only middle-grade and young adult), I decided to do my homework. I sat in my local bookstore and read chapter book after chapter book. I borrowed a heap of chapter books from the library. Plus I bought a few that I knew I’d refer to again and again. But I didn’t just read them. I took my analysis a step further.

I made a spreadsheet with some of my favorite chapter books, including ones the publisher had suggested as comps. Then I noted things like: the number of chapters, number of words in the books, number of illustrations, on which pages they came, number of characters, number of settings, etc. I outlined the stories too, comparing them to the outlines I did for my middle-grade novels. And I even typed out the opening pages word for word to get a good idea of the voice, pacing and tone. I did this for multiple books in different genres, by different authors. This gave me a good sense of the category as a whole.

I didn’t get that job, but the next time I had the opportunity to audition for a chapter book series, I used that knowledge and analyzing technique again. This time, I won the contract, and I now have four books out in my GEMSTONE DRAGONS series.

I’m about to go out on submission to editors with a graphic novel manuscript, and I used the same analyzing technique when I was writing that too. I read a bunch of graphic novels, noted their page counts, and even wrote out their scripts in the form of:

Page 1 (5 panels)

Panel 1: MC does X

Panel 2…

Through this analysis, I could find the patterns and structures that are unique to graphic novels scripts. That made it a lot easier for me to create my own book, and so far, my agent loves it. (Fingers crossed it’ll have the same reception when it goes to editors.)

You’ve no doubt heard that reading is one of the best ways to learn how to write. I challenge you to take that one step further. You don’t have to type out an entire middle-grade novel, but consider ways that you can do more analyzing of those stories. Type out the first few pages or chapter. Note page counts and chapter numbers. See how your favorite authors start their stories and end them. Observe when they end a chapter. You can even catalog characters, their arcs and how their arcs intertwine.

Learning how to write by analyzing the stories you and millions of other readers already love will give you a key to unlock the tools those authors are using, so you can use them yourself.

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Historical fiction, fantasy novels, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction—writing for middle-grade can mean many different things. So, middle-grade authors need to take different approaches when crafting manuscripts for their genres. I talked with middle-grade authors Payal Doshi (fantasy novel) and Cristina Oxtra (historical fiction) to learn more about their craft and processes for writing two very different kinds of middle-grade books. Here are their thoughts on research and plotting, teen character development, and cultural representation in their books.

About the Authors

First, a bit about the authors and their books.

Payal Doshi noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel. She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her debut middle grade fantasy novel, Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, is the recipient of the IPPY Gold Award. Her young adult short story will be published in the forthcoming YA Anthology, My Big, Fat, Desi Wedding by Page Street Kids in Spring 2024. Visit her at https://www.payaldoshiauthor.com.

Cristina Oxtra is a Filipino American children’s book author. Her historical fiction middle grade novel, Tara and the Towering Wave: An Indian Ocean Tsunami Survival Story, tells the story of Tara and her mother’s survival of the tsunami that slams into the coast of Thailand and the resort area where they are staying. Her first picture book, titled What Lolo Wants, will be published in 2024. She was awarded The Loft Literary Center’s 2019–2020 Mirrors & Windows Fellowship for indigenous writers and writers of color and is a teaching artist at The Loft. Cristina is also a full-time public relations professional, military veteran, and former journalist and educator. Visit her at www.cristinaoxtra.com.

Research and Plotting

Payal: Fantasy stories usually require lavish settings, a magic system, magical creatures, and often a political and social system in which the story takes place apart from the basics of needing main and secondary characters as well as plot. So, when I have an idea for a story in my mind, I need to plan the story well before I begin writing.

Being a 60% plotter and 40% panster, the first thing l do is jot down a bulleted summary of the plot/outline to see how the story unravels. Then I enter into research mode which sends me down multiple rabbit holes, but I usually come out of them with twists and details that I couldn’t have concocted myself! I’m a big fan of well-described settings and I love reading books in which the setting feels like a character itself and plays an integral part of the story. This sends me off into researching strange and beautiful landscapes, magical creatures that might inhabit such lands, and using simple tools like a ‘fantasy name generator’ on Google to create unique names for my characters and settings.

This is also the point in my outlining when I tend to spot plot holes, places where I need to add more tension or a plot twist like a red herring, for example, and I begin to have a better sense of the setting, what my characters look like, what their internal motivations are, and what obstacles they might face. I like to create well-rounded characters so each of the characters, main or secondary, have their own strengths and weaknesses. I then try to put these characters in situations that will test their weaknesses and insecurities, which I find not only ties in well with their personalities but also makes for nail-biting plot and emotional progression. I also remember to maintain two arc trajectories for them—first that is plot-driven (i.e., how the character grows and changes based on the obstacles they face) and second is emotion-driven (i.e., how the characters’ feelings develop through their experiences in the story).

Cristina: Great research is the foundation of any historical fiction.  As part of my extensive research, I read books, articles, studies, and news reports. I read not only about the tsunami in 2004, but also about the meteorological phenomenon itself and about the country of Thailand, its history, geography, culture, and people. I also watched documentaries and personal videos from those who lived through the tsunami and the devastating aftermath. These were the most emotionally powerful resources. I even followed social media pages for vacation sites in Khao Lak to view pictures and get an idea of what the area is like.

As for plotting, I’m a firm believer in outlining. If I have to quantify it, I’m at least 75% plotter and 25% pantser. I usually have an idea of how the story will end and I work backwards to determine how it will reach that conclusion. I outline what will happen in each chapter and I use this outline as a road map to move the plot along. However, oftentimes a detour suddenly appears on the road map. Perhaps it’s the possibility of introducing another character I had not thought of at the start of the writing journey or a different plot twist. I always explore any detour to see whether or not it works well with the story. As I do so, I ask myself, “Does it make sense? Is it believable? Does it work with the facts?” It’s one of the challenges of writing an historical fiction. You can choose whichever path you’d like, but you have to stay true to the historical facts while building your fictional story around them.

Teen Character Development

Payal: A question I often get asked is how I write for a middle grade audience being in my late 30s! For one, I keep an ear out for how teens talk (this can involve some embarrassing eavesdropping!), watching teen TV shows, and also remembering my own childhood experiences—how we spoke, how we dressed. I try not to date my
characters’ dialogue by using very specific colloquialisms, keeping them more generic instead. An excellent piece of advice I received from my editor regarding writing for middle grade kids was to give a peek into the main character’s inner monologue especially when they are about to make big, important, or conflicting decisions. This helps
even a reluctant reader understand the nuances of a character and story.

Also, a tool I use to ensure my plot and character arcs are progressing well is to check if in every chapter the reader and main character learn something they didn’t know before i.e. new information about the plot, the introduction of a new character, new obstacles, grappling with new emotions.

Cristina: I created Tara to be a relatable character. Like many young people her age, she eats mac ‘n’ cheese, loves spending time with her best friend, is uneasy in new situations, prefers to stay in her comfort zone, and is unsure about trying new things.  My experiences as a mom of a teen and a former educator at the middle school level helped. Tara is also a child of divorce, like many children in the United States. My mother and biological father separated when I was a child. I drew from that experience of learning to come to terms with the separation, feeling the loss, recalling fond memories, and wondering about the future. Just as Tara did.

As with any character, I enjoy building a backstory for them before I start writing about them. For example, what are their likes and dislikes, who are their friends, what are their hobbies, what do they want to be when they grow up, have they always lived in the same place, etc. This information may be useful later in the story. But even if I don’t use all of this information, it still helps me gain a better understanding of the characters and how they would feel or act in a given situation based on who they are. In addition, I make sure my characters learn and grow through their experiences in the story, and I prefer to end a story in a way that leaves readers with the feeling of hope.

Cultural Representation

Payal: I’m from India and South Asian representation in children’s books is incredibly important to me. I love weaving in details about my culture and heritage into the fabric of the story. I want South Asian kids see themselves as main characters in books and know that they are worthy of going on exciting adventures and being heroes.

Being human is a universal experience and what bonds a reader to a character is not their outward appearance but their hopes, dreams, failures, successes, insecurities, strengths, and how they navigate through life. That’s what I like to focus on when writing a book. Similarly, I want kids from other cultures and countries to relate with my characters and see that despite their different backgrounds, they share the same hopes, dreams, and fears. It is my hope that South Asian kids feel seen when they read my books, know that their stories deserve to be celebrated, and feel joy and pride for their culture.

Cristina: Representation matters. Growing up, I didn’t see myself in the books in the libraries or at school. Therefore, I write stories that feature diverse characters and uplift diverse voices. I wanted to do this in Tara and the Towering Wave as well as reflect the immigrant experience.  This involved not only a tremendous amount of research, but also delving into my memories. Although I’ve never been to Thailand, I learned it has some similarities with the Philippines, where I was born and raised, so I drew from my personal experiences. For example, the scene wherein Tara and her mom rode in a tuk-tuk is based on my experience of riding in a similar vehicle as a child in the Philippines. As inspiration for the market scene, I recalled walking in the open-air markets in the Philippines and combined those memories with what I learned from food TV shows featuring Thailand. In addition, I consulted with two friends, one who lived in Thailand for several years and another who is a native of the country, to make sure I portrayed Thailand, its people, and its culture accurately and with respect.

Through Tara and the Towering Wave, I wanted to show the power of the human spirit and the good each individual can do. I also wanted to explore the theme of identity, the desire to belong, and what ties us to our family and our heritage. Tara’s story highlights the bond between a mother and daughter as they learn about their Thai heritage and themselves. As a Filipino American who was born and raised in the Philippines, I wonder what it would be like if I went back. I have not returned since I left as a child. My son was born and raised in the United States. What would it be like if we visited the Philippines? Would we feel awkward and uncomfortable, like Tara? Would we feel like Filipinos or strangers in a foreign land?

I hope this story inspires readers to discover their inner strengths, help others, and learn more about their family and heritage. I also hope it helps ensure that those who died, lost someone, or survived the tsunami are never forgotten.

Thank you so much for joining us on the blog today and sharing your insights, Payal and Cristina! Hope their insights into crafting historical fiction and fantasy novels will help you on your MG writing journey. Be sure to check out their wonderful middle-grade books Rea and the Blood of the Nectar and Tara and the Towering Wave. Happy MG writing and reading to all!

The post Middle-Grade Craft: Insights from Payal Doshi and Cristina Oxtra appeared first on From The Mixed Up Files.

Today we’d like to share what we are grateful for as children’s writers. So, I asked the Mixed-Up Files contributors to write a little about what they are thankful for as authors. Hope you enjoy our thoughts.

“I’m thankful for the kidlit community. I’ve been in other writing communities and kidlit creators are the best. They’re like family, supporting each other and encouraging. We have a higher purpose, in creating books that are going to make children readers for life, and I’m thankful that we do that together.”

—Samantha M Clark, author of ARROW and the GEMSTONE DRAGONS books

Image: Tarpon Springs Public Library, Tarpon Springs, FL via tarponlibrary.org

I’m grateful for…. public libraries

My most powerful—and most wonderful—memories around books are thanks to public libraries.
For years, each Saturday, my mother and I would walk to the public library near our apartment, climb the

stairs to the children’s section on the second floor, and I’d pick out a stack of books to read for the week. Like the greatest shopping trip ever, where the only limiting factor was how much we could carry. Then there was that one long, hot, un-airconditioned summer in Florida, where I lived with my father, where I worked through the local library’s very small “YA” shelf of books. I stumbled over a novel I’d never heard of before, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, my favorite book of my middle-grade reading years by a mile.

Image: Trisha Speed Shaskan,  trishaspeedshaskan.com

 

 

“I’m grateful for book events with local and national authors. They give me a reason to celebrate books, meet and talk with local authors, and discover new authors and their books. It’s inspiring and fills me with motivation to be surrounded by such talented writers.”

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Armed with some wonderful advice from Therese at Writer Unboxed (if you are a writer and aren’t familiar with this blog, be sure to check it out!),
Jen Louden’s The Women’s Retreat Book, and my N95 masks, I set out for the Oregon’s Great Basin to do some much needed healing – of my manuscript, sure, but
also of my soul.

I was not disappointed.

Playa is a haven on Summer Lake – a  desert lake in Lake County, Oregon. The Great Basin landscape is a unique mix of ponds, dry lake bed, and wetlands.

It is magical.

It was the perfect place to rest, repair, and rejuvenate my writer self.

I spent my mornings watching the sun rise, journaling, and writing.

I took long walks. Sometimes I made notes about my novel using my phone’s voice recording app. Sometimes, I just walked.

I sat. (I honestly cannot remember the last time I just sat down and took in the world. It was marvelous).

I read.

I spent a not insignificant amount of time lying on my back on a bench by the pond, looking up through the trees, and feeling like a kid.

I wrote.

I did self-hypnosis.

I watched a hawk hunt, a woodpecker peck, and a flock of goldfinches flutter.

I spent my evenings watching the sun set, journaling, and writing.

I listened to coyotes sing.

I looked at the stars.

I felt my writer self expand. Which is magic in and of itself.

I can’t really articulate the value of my experience. 5 days, solely dedicated to your artistic self is a luxury that not many of us can afford – even in the best of times.
I’m not sure when I will be able to make such time again – let alone spend it in such a magical place.

But if you do get the opportunity to spend some time alone, dedicated to your writing self, I have a few tips to offer – one for each day of my Residency:

1. Be generous with yourself. If you are on fire to write, by all means write. But if your soul is crying out to sit, to wander, to play, to rest, please let yourself do those things. They all fill the writer well. They all count.

2. Bring music. I don’t listen to music at home when I write. But, I brought some with me, just in case. I was so happy I did. I played music off and all all day – when I wrote, when I needed a dance party break, when I did some yoga stretches. I was surprised by how much simple joy it brought.

3. Bring something great to read. I brought two writing craft books and my Kindle. I had borrowed a middle grade novel, some poetry, and a short story collection from the library’s Ebook library before I left. The poetry was great for starting and ending my day. The middle grade provided some nice afternoon reading on the deck and not a small amount of inspiration. I never touched the collection of short stories (sorry Hilary Mantel. I know it’s wonderful and I will read it. May you RIP).

4. Bring some art supplies. I’m not an artist by any means. But I did throw in some old watercolors and some fresh pens before I left just in case. I was glad to have them. I doodled and created some laughably terrible and totally fun watercolors several times during the 5 days. It was surprisingly freeing to just let myself be bad at something and have fun doing it.

5. Bring food, but don’t get too precious about it. (Unless food is really your thing. Then do you). I looked at some retreat tips before I left and so many people mentioned food. Elaborate food. I kept it simple because I didn’t have time to prepare something wonderful. I’m glad I did. It turned out I just didn’t care that much about what I ate. I had toast and fruit most mornings, crackers and cheese, raw vegetables, and salami for lunch most days, and fruit and bread for dinner most evenings. Soup and sandwiches filled in the gaps on other days just fine. I did have a few pastries (nothing special) and some cookies as treats which were nice when I wanted them, and a tiny bottle of Prosecco to acknowledge the experience. One thing I wish I had brought was better coffee. That’s it.

Now that I am home and back to the regular world of laundry and grocery lists and empty cat bowls, I am eager to weave the learning and magic I gained from this Residency into my everyday writing life. I left the Playa with a plan for my current work in progress and for myself. I’m excited to get started on it.

Huge thanks to everyone at Playa who made this possible, with extra thanks to Carrie and Kris for being so gracious and wonderful and accommodating <3

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