A Broken Resolution Against New Year's Resolution

     I learned a long time ago that making a New Year's resolution is the best way not to achieve anything you wanted. The only resolution I've ever finished is getting into the habit of asking someone how they were doing after they asked about me, and that only worked because I'm excessively Minnesotan. But there is something I really want to accomplish in 2014, so I'm breaking my resolution against resolutions.

     I've always wanted to be the kind of person who journals every day. The problem is I don't always have something to say and journaling quickly begins to feel like a chore. Then there are days when I do have an interesting observation about my life to write down but I have nowhere to put this mostly unformed thought. So in 2014, I have resolved to carry a journal around with me at all times.

     This will not be the "Dear diary, my day was..." kind of journaling. It's an idea I got partly from the book Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, which recommends making your journal entries as creative as the rest of your writing. I won't write in it everyday, just when the mood strikes me. Yesterday, I sat down at the Walker Art Center after exploring the galleries and wrote a two page character study. It turned out to be my favorite piece of writing in months.

     Today I wrote another bit inspired by the Walker. They currently have multiple installations by Lawrence Weiner, a contemporary artist who believes in the power of words in art. He created the Walker's slogan, "Bits & Pieces Put Together to Present a Semblance of a Whole." While I was looking at his art, I thought of my own art-worthy slogan. Not very original, but I wrote in my journal, "Everything must go."

     This one little sentence got the ideas rolling. It somehow fit perfectly in the novel I'm working on and managed to move my plot along. My New Year's resolution is already paying of. It knocked me out of my funk. Perhaps I'll stick with it.

Happy Endings?

                Obligatory "Sorry I haven't done a proper post in forever" explanation ahead. Long, boring story short: school and work are the greedy friends who monopolize my time and refuse to share me with anyone else. So don't blame me, blame them. Unsurprisingly, most of what I think about revolves around my classes. We just finished Oedipus Rex in AP Literature and as if I didn't have enough homework and lack of sleep to brighten my day, the play's resolution is heartbreaking. Another long story short: there is one less pair of eyes by the end of the play.

                This got me thinking; I've never read a Young Adult novel with a tragic ending. I didn't find the Hunger Games trilogy ending all that happy and The Fault in Our Stars wasn't full of kittens and rainbows, but did they give me the same rip-out-my-heart-so-I-can-just-die-already feeling that Oedipus Rex or the Great Gatsby did. If Young Adult novels are bitter at all, they are bitter sweet. So my question is, would a completely tragic ending in a book written for teenagers work?

                A lot of YA deals in escapism, allowing teenagers to forget about the stress of the real world for a few chapters. The stories may have fear, pain, and danger, but they don't launch the reader into a world more hopeless than their own. That's not to make YA literature sound shallow. It deals with unbelievably hard topics, from eating disorders to death and suicide. Only the characters are meant to serve as inspiration, to show that these problems can be overcome. But would a book with no light at the end of the tunnel still be a good read? Would it sell? I don't know the answer, but if anyone has any examples of this, feel free to comment.

P.S. I'm now on Twitter @EmmaSchmidtke

It's Here!

After several uploads, two days, and one tearful meltdown, my novel has been posted to Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing. It costs $2.99 and can be purchased here.

The Making of a Cover

     My friend Maggie, an ammeter photographer, came over around noon today, camera in tow. We walked down a trail to a nearby lake and roamed until Maggie found a spot without a branch or a weed out of place. I crawled through what was very likely poison ivy-infested grass to get to a pile of rocks that looked like it was placed there for us.
     I stood there, looking out at the lake, imagining that I was the main character of my novel. I told myself that my best friend had just died and now I had to look out at the world and somehow make sense of it all, alone. Maggie was taking pictures of me from behind, so my acting probably did no good, but we managed to get two or three acceptable shots.
     Then we figured there was little left to do except photoshop my hair red, like my main character's. Being as inexperienced in graphic design as we were photoshop, this took about three hours and four cans of soda. Eventually, we achieved the shade I had envisioned and picked a font somewhere in between mystery novel and chic-lit.
     It turned out amazing and has only gotten me more excited for this whole process. I'm planning on publishing my novel through Amazon within the next few weeks and will probably charge somewhere around $2.99 for it. Here's the cover:

A Few Favorite Books On Writing

     When you're a writer, one of the hardest things to do is ask for help. Unfortunately for writers, you cannot be a good one without help. But if you're like me, you feel much more comfortable seeking advice behind the pages of a book then in front of a person. So I've compiled a short list of books on writing, in order of where they belong in the creative process.

1. Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer

     This book is for the newest of beginners. It says so on the book flap. It fully covers all the basics, from creating characters to developing voice. If you are just getting started with writing or want to brush up on the core elements, this is the book for you.

2. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

     I revisit this book whenever I'm about to embark on a huge rewrite. Maass covers all the elements that make ellegent writing what it is, the rules that one forgets while they are caught up in the first draft. The book includes step by step workshops to make any manuscript the next hit novel.

3. Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom from a Dazzling Array of Literary Lights by Jon Winokur

     Unlike the previous two, this book offers less concrete advice and more relatable witty tidbits. It includes hundreds of quotes from famous authors that will invoke a giggle or a knowing sigh from every writer.


P.S. The self-publishing is definitely going ahead at this point. A photographer friend of mine is coming over on Friday to take a photo for the cover. Stay tuned for updates.  

Self Publishing: Vain or Indie?

     So obviously (I say obviously because you would have already been informed by a post full of many exclamations) I have had little success in the publishing game. I have received seven rejection letters from agents I've queried and complete silence from the rest. It hasn't exactly been the highlight of my summer.

     Through pretty much the entirety of my writing process, people have been suggesting self publishing. I was always hesitant. I completely believed in the "vanity publishing" stereotype. Self publishing was for the writers who would rather blame greedy publishers than admit their own shortcomings. I was also afraid of pushing my writing out into the ibis of the word wide web, without an editor or an agent to provide a guiding light.

     But the article, "Self Publishing: Here to Stay?" by the Huffington Post changed my mind. Self publishing is not vain, it's indie. It offers writers creative freedom from commercialism. Some self-published books do go on to be very successful, but I have learned to think of my writing in a different way. What I want out of publishing is to give as many people as possible access to my writing and the indie press may be the way to do it.

Comics for Young Adults

                I love comic books and basically everything superhero, but I’m not one of those people who judges DC and Marvel fans if they’ve only seen the movies. What I’ve learned from various Tumblr superhero confession blogs (and yes that can get as uncomfortable as it sounds) is that a lot of people want to read the comics of their beloved characters, but they find that comics are just too hard to get into. A lot of these superheroes debuted as far back as the 1930s and have a thousand intertwining plot lines. New readers are often left wondering what the heck the Superhero Registration Act was and wasn’t that Norman Osborn guy the Green Goblin?

                So I’ve compiled a list of easy to get into, almost no background knowledge needed, comic series especially for those who love Young Adult literature.

1.       The Runaways (2003)

This was my first ever comic book series. I read the first volume in about three days back in middle school. To this day, I still love these books. A group of LA teenagers finds out that their parents are all super villains wrapped up in a ritual sacrifice with the potential to bring on the apocalypse and decide to go on the run. They must stop their parents before it’s too late. The series, while having all the action and plot twists one expects from Marvel, deals with teen issues like rebellion, relationships, and trying to maintain childhood innocence in spite of all the world’s crap.

2.       Young Avengers (2005)

In its unfairly short run, the Young Avengers introduced teenage versions of many classic Avengers. This series contains wit, drama, and kick ass female characters. Also, Billy and Teddy are the cutest and healthiest couple in comics. The Young Avengers have recently had a reboot featuring kid!Loki and have played major roles in many Marvel-wide plot lines, so it’s definitely worth reading.

3.       Hawkeye (2012)

Unlike the previous two series, a teenager is not the main focus of these comics. But it does feature Kate Bishop from the Young Avengers and she is fabulous. Plus, if you loved Hawkeye in the Avengers movie, this series has all the sass and emotions you’ve been longing for.

P.S. My number one rule about starting to read comics is to just go with it. Read the descriptions at the beginning of every issue and understand that there are some references you’ll have to pick up on as you go. Also, Marvel and DC’s wikis help a lot with learning about back stories.

Man, Does That Guy Have Issues: Writing Workout

                This exercise comes from a conversation I had with a friend in my creative writing club. She felt like her poetry lacked depth and meaning. I encouraged her to be vulnerable, pick something she felt strongly about. A teenage girl has got to have at least one insecurity, right?

But she was hesitant. She didn’t think she could share her writing if it was so personal. So I told her to write from the point of view of another person.

                So here’s the assignment: write from the point of view of a very sad or very angry person. It can be a historic figure, a character from a book, or someone you just made up. Write a poem, a monologue, or a short story.

                But the challenge is to avoid typical vulnerability clichés. Here are some words you are not allowed to use unless you want to sound like some middle-schooler writing angst-fueled poetry in the back of her math notebook (Seventh grade was a really rough time, you guys):

                Sad

                Broken

                Hurt

                Alone

                Vulnerable

Here’s a poem I wrote for a poetry slam a little while ago, from the point of view of a fifties housewife:

I remember the day you left

We stood on the train platform with all the other couples

I was wearing that dress of mine you liked

My promise to wait for you

And you leaned in and kissed me on the head

And told me you weren't going to change

And then you said goodbye

Three years later, I met you again on that platform

I was wearing the same dress

You smiled and said that your uniform was different but you weren't

But you wouldn't talk to me about the war

I asked you about Japan and you said

"Well, you've seen the posters."

Your hands shook in mine as we said I do

You got dressed in the dark so I couldn't see the scars

But everybody told me this was normal

Just get a little house out in the suburbs

Have a couple kids

He'll get a job in the city

You'll stay home and cook dinner

Don't talk about the war you could never understand

I knew I would never understand

So I told myself that it was fine

I pretended I didn't hear you calling at night

Searching for the brothers you'd lost

Men that I would never meet

I was able to ignore it till the time our little girl cried

And you said, "Shut her up, I can't listen to anymore children scream."

It wasn't my place

I didn't say

When I realized that in a world where content was sold in a sear's catalog

Next to joy and a new blender

It was still something we would never be

The other wives in neighborhood never talked about it

Their men had been through the same thing

Came home to the same strangers

Why did we never talk about it?

Did we think that if we turned the tv up enough

Flip the pages of Good Housekeeping loud enough

We could drown out the sound of bullets coming from our husbands' ears

The noise makes my head hurt

I can't think straight

No, I don't want anymore pills

I want you

Except I want the version that give dandelions

Picked on the side of the road

Because you just remembered that they were my favorite flower

The version before you got on that train

Before some general sat you down

Gave you the power of God

To destroy a thousand lives instantly

And two lives years later

Hello, Senator McCarthy

Yes I would like to report a traitor

That man sitting in my house is not my husband

He is not of this country

He is still in Japan

Still sitting in the pilots' seat

Finger on the trigger

Ready to drop

And we are Hiroshima lovers

Shadows blown up on the walls of a suburban home by a bomb that detonated 20 years ago

The shape of us standing on that train platform

I am wearing your favorite dress

And you lean in and kiss me goodbye

Query Quirks

                The road to publishing can go to “Yay, this is the best book ever! Who wouldn’t want to publish me?” to “Oh my god, I wrote the worst thing ever and everybody knows it,” in three seconds. I have a completed manuscript for a Young Adult that I’ve been looking for an agent for. I’ll admit that I had barely sent out my query letter when I started looking online for clothes for my book tour. Six rejection letters later, I am feeling less optimistic.

                Rejection is normal in the publishing process. The first Harry Potter book was rejected by nine publishers. Gone with the Wind was rejected 38 times. I attended a book signing by Jay Asher a couple years ago. He said that his bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why was accepted by the thirteenth publisher (get it?) He also said that rejection letters all start to sound like bad break-up excuse after a while. There’s the “It’s not you; it’s me” (I am just not the right agent to represent your book,) the “There’s someone else” (Our agency is already representing a book on the same subject,) and the more or less straight forward “I don’t think you’re ready for a relationship yet” (Your book needs more work before it can be published.)  So far, I’ve only gotten the “It’s not you; it’s me” response but ask anyone who has ever heard this excuse. It’s hard not to think that it’s you.

                Meanwhile, as I sit and wait for responses from the other agents I queried, and there’s a good chance they won’t even respond, my creativity is being squashed. Normally, I would be using this summer to write the first draft of my next novel. But every time I try to write the first chapter of one of the millions of ideas I had while writing my last book, I lose my motivation after the first couple of pages. This is the part of writing that is usually my favorite, diving right in, typing away with reckless abandon. But now I’m stuck, unable to move onto the next project while I’m worried about my current manuscript getting picked up.

                So now I’m trying to push past that.Writing Forums is helping me revise my query and I’ve found a batch of new agents on AgentQuery.com (they also have examples of successful queries.) Hopefully I’ll have more luck this time around and be able to move forward with my writing. Until then, tea, yoga, and complaining on the internet is helping a lot.

My Cat Died and I Wrote a Novel: Writing Workout

                This is a writing exercise I learned while at a Young Writer’s Workshop taught by Jane St. Anthony, author of The Summer Sherman Loved Me, back when I was in middle school. This exercise is for beginners but if your writing is lacking believable emotion, give it a try.

Step 1:

                Think of a childhood memory where one vivid emotion is present. It could be the Christmas you got an amazing bike and could never have imagined being happier. It could be the day your dog died and you experienced grief for the first time. Write down a literal description of the event, how it happened, how you felt, how you reacted.

Step 2:

                Pick one of these stock photos I included below (I apologize in advance for any corniness; I was trying to avoid copy infringement.) Write a story based on one of those photos featuring the emotion from your memory. Project your feelings onto a character in the story; make the emotion as close to your memory as possible.

Summer Reading, Had Me a Blast: Beautiful

         Beautiful by Amy Reed is the story of Cassie's Go Ask Alice style transformation from a normal, small town teenager into an acid-taking, boy-hunting wild child. She is in a whirlpool of drugs, sex, and sociopaths that is threatening to drown her, all in the pursuit of being labelled beautiful.

         This book makes for an uncomfortable, often painful read. But that's the point. The writing is ugly, dwelling on every scab, barf, and dirty bed sheet Cassie's downward sweeps across. This isn't the sit-by-the-pool, candy-coated read you may be looking for this summer, but this book is fascinating. Cassie learns a few lessons along the way and there is a bright spot in her friend, Sarah, who is one of the few supporting characters that is not completely villainous. Even if you have to wait till the summer is over and the weather is dark and dreary enough to put you in the right mindset, pick up this book.

Next up on my summer reading list: Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

P.S.: Read Go Ask Alice first. That book is amazing.

Turtle on Busy Road, Halfway There: Writing Workout

         Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, six word stories are always entertaining. But more than just being a quirky way to show off your literary talent, these stories teach an important lesson. Keep it brief. Cut away any redundancies to let the reader draw their own conclusions. Take for example the most famous six word story, supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway on a bet:

For sale: baby shoes, never worn

         Short, simple, and tragic. The narrator never tells us what happened, but we can read between the lines. Literal, detailed explanations are tedious. Create a few six word stories that tell a familiar tale in a brief, creative way. Feel free to post them bellow.

Here are a few of my favorites from http://www.sixwordstories.net:

Two wives, one funeral, no tears.

If you're rich, I am single.

Left handed woman seeks Mr. Right.

Summer Reading, Had Me a Blast: Vegan Virgin Valentine

         Mara Valentine is any parents' dream daughter. She is on the fast track to Yale and destined to be her school's valedictorian once she out performs her jerk of an ex-boyfriend. If only she could stop crushing on her twenty-two-year-old boss, James, and get her wild-child of a niece, V, out of her life.
         I had high hopes for this book after reading The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by the same author. Although Vegan Virgin Valentine was harder to get swept away with than Mackler's other  books, I was not disappointed in the story of Mara's senior year. Mackler breaks from traditional stereotypes (The honor student is always right, the slut is always wrong) and allows her characters to grow through realizing their flaws. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of V's story in the sort-of sequel, Guyaholic. 

Next up on my reading list: Beautiful by Amy Lynn Reed

Summer Reading, Had Me a Blast: My Boyfriends' Dogs

         The first official book of the Summer! My Boyfriends' Dogs by Dandi Daley Mackall takes the reader through Bailey Daley's misguided dating life, involving three perfect dogs and three less-than-perfect boyfriends. With each relationship, Bailey attempts to change herself to find the happily ever after with her man, only to find out that the boy is never worth it. Through it all, she learns that love should be like pet ownership, your companion should love you just the way you are.
         The whole book I was screaming "He's not worth it!" But Bailey's blind love is relatable to anyone who has ever been a teenager. And she learns from her mistakes. She has the quirkiness of a side character, which is why I love that Mackall gave her the development of a main character. The writing is sometimes cliché (She just wants to be a gecko!) and some of the other important characters are pretty static, such as Bailey's best friend and her mom, but the message is sound. Don't change yourself for the one you're with. Also, dogs are always better than boys. I can agree with that.
         Next up on Emma's Summer Reading list: Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler.



         It would be unfair to talk about fictional dogs without showing you a picture of my puppy: