WIFYR Day 5. Surprise! Fellowship Grant and Final Take-Away

The last day of the conference came too quickly. 

But I'm left feeling hopeful and inspired with tools I can use as I revise my work.

We began our Friday workshop sharing the homework assignments that we'd each been given to improve our novels. The excerpts shared in our class blew me away. It was amazing to see a group of skilled writers transform their words and take them to a higher level over and over again. 

The panel of agents and editors offered great advice, as always. In short, here's a recap for writers who are getting ready to put together a submission:

What Keeps an Agent/Editor Reading? 

Voice. 

Compelling stakes. 

Great characters.

The burning question of, What happens next? 

An unexpected storyline. 

Surprise! I don't know how to say this, but I need to share, so here it is. 

During the closing webinar of the conference, I was awarded a Fellowship Grant for the middle grade novel I'd brought to revise. Yay! 

It's hard to put into words, how I felt at that moment, and how I continue to feel today. 

When I realized that the words being read were my own, my first instinct was to dive under my desk and seek shelter. Lucky for me, I have a small desk. I couldn't get away from them.

Getting this grant feels surreal and at the same time, hard to believe. I met many talented writers this past week, and each are creating amazing stories. It's impossible not to want the same for them.

For me, the timing of this grant award culminated in an important Take-Away. 

I'll preface this Take Away with a bit of backstory. 

March, April, and May were busy months. A handful of professional critique opportunities unfolded. I prepared what I could, the WIFYR grant being one of them. By the first week of June, I'd heard back from those critiques (but not the WIFYR grant.). One agent thought my MC was too whiny. Another liked her, and thought the story held merit in discovering how the relationships would unfold. Another agent didn't have much to say. Which is all fine. I can fix "whiny," and yes, I like my relationships, I think they're worth sticking with to the end. And clearly, it's good to discover agents who aren't a good match along the way to finding "the one." 

I found similar reactions in my writing workshop. Some authors loved the manuscript. Others liked it well-enough, although I suspect it wasn't their cup of tea. Which I get. Different readers develop different tastes. I respect that. 

And then, my manuscript won the Fellowship Grant! 
What?!? How is that possible? 

At the very least, it means something, or a few things, are working in my story. And I'm hoping that the tools I learned this week will help me get all of it right.

If anything, the rollercoaster I've been on with this manuscript over the last 12 days shows two things.

1) Connections to a manuscript happen on personal level. Some readers will love it, others won't, and that's OKAY. There isn't one story on the planet that will appeal to everyone. For example, I own the book, Where the Crawdads Sing. My mother loved it; my mother-in-law loved it; my daughter loved it.  I've begun reading my copy on two different occasions. But I haven't been able to "get into the novel," that has sold more than a million copies... Soooooo. Reading and loving a book is personal, although I suspect I'll be able to finish Where the Crawdads Sing when the timing is right.

2) Write your story!  WRITE IT. Throw up all over your pages, and then revise, and make it beautiful for you and the readers/writers/critique-peeps that get it from the beginning. Because stories that find a way into your heart, are wanting to be told. YOU are the person who needs to tell them. 

YOUR story isn't knocking on the door of the writer who lives down the road. 

It's knocking on yours. 

So welcome it in. 

Give it a place to put its feet up.

And then give it wings. 

This is my revelation,  

my take away.

My wish for you 

is for you to keep writing, 

and for you to revise, 
and for you to maintain hope,
until your story takes the shape it needs.

WIFYR Day 4. Filter Words and Little Wins

Day 4 of the conference was jam-packed with information, more revisions, and more critiques. And I haven't even come close to putting a dent in watching the webinars. To top it off, I capped off another day by participating in the WIFYR writing sprints at 9pm with other writers from the conference. I'm so surprised at how quickly I've grown to love these virtual group meetings! Go me, in trying all the new things.

Filter words. These words weaken your manuscript. They put distance between your character and your reader. Seek them out and delete them.  Words like:

I'm able to

I know

I decide

I wonder

I can/could/couldn't

I hear

I think

I try

I see

etc.

If you delete the filters words that permeate first drafts, then you'll be left with the action of the story, rooting your character and your reader exactly where they should be.

(This advice was shared in a short teaching segment given by Kathy Lipscomb, an editor and author, who participated in our morning writing workshop with one of her own projects. And I'll just say it: I LOVE Kathy's writing. Her words, her stories, all of them, need to be in print. As in, hardcover, paperback. ebook. All the formats. I can't wait until they are published.)

Little Wins and Pacing.  Sometimes your character needs a little bit of a win. Little victories to keep her and your reader going, especially when the going gets tough. So while we're told as writers to be merciless to our characters, at times, we also need to be kind. Like maybe give them a cookie and a glass of milk to go with it. (That last part was a joke, but think about your character and her arc and how she's feeling. Make sure it's not too overwhelming.)

Keep writing everyone!

WIFYR Day 3. Doors of No Return

Another fantastic day!

These take-aways came from Cheri Pray Earl's workshop.

What is a Door of No Return?
When your character makes a choice, and can't undo it. In other words, she can not un-know what she now knows, and she can't un-see what she has seen.

The 1st Door of No Return happens between the Introduction (Act 1) and Act 2.

The 2nd Door of No Return happens before the climax and moves your character in the final conflict.

Conflict
Must be driven by each character's wants and needs. After you establish the conflicts, raise the stakes, and increase the tension, then go back and make the conflicts worse.

Chapters/plot
Each chapter begins with your main character dealing with a particular emotional state and dealing with a problem.

Basically, today workshops involved ensuring that our characters suffered, and then suffered even more. All in the name of growth and a movement toward a more satisfying resolution.

Yay for growth!