May 16th, 2012

Disappointed Writers

by Johanna Harness

Baxter the houselamb, sheepI’ve heard it said that sheep spend their time at pasture looking for ways to die.  They’re relatively stoic creatures so, by the time they act sick, it’s often too late.  They seem fine one day and they’re dead the next.

Writers are apparently the same way with disappointment.  While not writing, we look for ways to feel bad about ourselves.

Last week I attended a conference with a wildly-successful writer who just turned in her eighteenth book.

“Wow,” I said.

She held thumb and forefinger barely apart. “They’re thin,” she answered.  “I’m actually getting dumber with every passing day.”

She’s not, of course, but she swears she is.

Another writer on twitter tells stories that tunnel right through to my heart.  I laugh out loud.  I cry.  His explorations change the way I see life and enrich my perceptions of my Kansas heritage.

And yet he worries about apostrophes and sentence structure.  He thinks he’s not good enough to be a “real writer.”  I tell him that he damn well is and that writing is so much more than a sum of grammatical parts.  Any editor can fix those tiny things.

And I’m sure he thinks I’m humoring him–because he is, after all, a writer.  The only thing we fear more than rejection is false praise.

Another friend confesses that, despite glowing reviews, she worries because she’s been often nominated, but never selected, for any prestigious award.

Another with a Ph.D. worries she’ll look stupid because she does not have the vocabulary to talk about novel writing.

I can shake my head, but who am I kidding?  I’ve been writing long enough to survive multiple episodes of dark days and doubt.  My last had me wondering about famous writers and that stroke of genius that makes them who they are.  No matter what they write, we hear that quality in their voice and we love them.  And so, just like a sheep contemplating lethal ways to get her head stuck in a fence, I ask myself, “What if my writing has an opposite effect on readers?  What if that thing that makes me special is the one thing no one wants?”

And yet we persist.

This week at Idaho Writers and Readers Rendezvous, Mary Clearman Blew reiterated the importance of tenacity for writers.  She said you can often tell when writers are going to give up.  ”You can just feel them veering off and thinking they’d rather have a life.”

I laugh because I’ve cornered myself into such a negative ending.  As a writer primed for disappointment, having a life sounds amusing and fun. So what was my point?

Oh yes.  Not every stoic sheep is dying.  And not every disappointed writer wants to quit.  Some of us are just really good at getting our heads stuck in fences and wailing about it. It’s what we do. And then we write about it.

*

This post originally appeared on Gem State Writers on May 9, 2012.  Since a lively discussion followed, you may want to head over there to read comments.

May 2nd, 2012

In praise of small conferences

by Johanna Harness

SCBWI Regional Conference in Boise

Big conferences provide excellent opportunities for brush-with-greatness stories. Sitting behind that famous agent, saying hello to a dream editor, sharing an elevator and small talk with a big-name author: these are certainly moments to remember.

Small conferences offer more than moments.

In 2009, I attended my first little gathering and ended up having a long chat with Lin Oliver, one of the two founders of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).  She listened while I awkwardly described my book and then assured me I belonged. Remembering that conversation still brings tears to my eyes.  It would have been a thrill just to hear her speak.  At the local gathering, she changed the trajectory of my career.

The next fall, I traveled to Utah for the SCBWI conference in Salt Lake City.  Not only did I have wonderful conversations with Laurent Linn, Elizabeth Law, and Royce Buckingham, but I also attended my first workshop with Terri Farley, an author I now count among my writing friends.

You’re seeing the pattern, yeah?

At bigger conferences, I’ve been thrilled to see wonderful authors across the room.  At these smaller events, we talk.

A couple years ago I talked with Chris Crutcher at a local conference in Boise.  This last winter he was keynote speaker for the big SCBWI conference in New York.

That same year in Boise, I met Kelly Milner Halls, Jill Corcoran, and Cheryl Klein.

Kate Testerman of KT Literary

Does it seem like I’m name dropping?  Because it should. There may not be a surplus of big names at each conference, but the quality of time spent with each guest and the cumulative effect over time?  Wow.  Just wow.

Last weekend, I attended at my 4th local SCBWI conference and my teenage daughter attended her first.

We learned so much from Alane Ferguson’s workshop and from talks given by Gloria Skurzynski (Alane’s uber-talented mom) and Matthew Kirby (who looks like Alane’s son, but we’re assured the Edgar-nominated author is not). We talked with Kate Kae Myers and Sarah Tregay. We sat at a table with Kate Testerman, Amy Cook, Miriam Forster, and maybe the most important person there:  Neysa Jensen, the new Regional Advisor for the Utah-Idaho Region of SCBWI.  Together with Sydney Salter, Neysa has been instrumental in bringing all these iconic authors, agents, and editors within driving distance of my Idaho home.

Alane Ferguson, Matthew Kirby, and Gloria Skurzynski

If you write for kids or young adults, you owe it to yourself to find out what’s happening in your SCBWI region.  If you write romance, find out what Romance Writers of America has to offer in your region.  If you write mysteries, check out Mystery Writers of America.  Whatever your genre, there’s probably a professional organization that’s just right for you—and they just may have a conference coming up in your area. You should go!

April 18th, 2012

Plot Arc

by Johanna Harness

 

I recently had the great pleasure of speaking to the Coeur du Bois Chapter of Romance Writers of America.  I couldn’t ask for a warmer audience.  They were wonderful!  My topic:  using timed writing to make use of small bits of time throughout your day.  I held up my own writing notes as examples and took a leap of faith when someone asked if I would pass them around.  It’s not so much that I have any great secrets in them.  It’s just that they contained my very raw, very undeveloped ideas—my working thoughts.  They were not in any way polished.  I was even more confused when a few people started taking notes.  And then a few more did.

I didn’t know what to make of it. These were my boring, day-to-day, throw-my-thoughts-together notes.

Then someone explained:  they were copying down my plot arc.  And they would love to have a copy of it if I would put it up somewhere, perhaps on a blog.  Maybe one for Idaho writers.  Gem State Writers, perhaps.

Okay, so here it is:  my oddball, everyday, yes-I-really-work-with-this Plot Arc—the one that captured their attention.

This arc is heavily influenced by Blake Snyder’s beat sheet as well as Michael Hauge’s 6-stage plot, but it’s also neither of those.  It’s a weird conglomeration of what works for me.  If my arc somehow works its way into your own weird conglomeration of what works for you, this would make me very happy.

- – -

This post first appeared on Gem State Writers on April 11, 2012.


Switch to our mobile site