When I received the news SKINNY would be featured on the BEA YA Buzz panel, I had no idea what to expect.  I'd never been to BEA, but I'd always read it was huge and overwhelming (so true).  So, I thought you might all enjoy a little recap of the week's festivities and an "insider" look into the experience.  (Have patience with me, because I'm definitely in recovery mode today - still in pajamas and coffee in hand)

Maggie Stiefvater, Eliot Schrefer, Sharon Cameron and James Dashner

I flew into NY on Monday afternoon and went almost immediately to the Scholastic building in Soho for a special ScholasticLive event for bloggers.  The rooftop conference room was packed with passionate, enthusiastic, YOUNG book bloggers.  The featured authors performed a "Readers Theater." That's a dramatic presentation of a written work in a script form. Readers read from a “script” and reading parts are divided among the readers. Participating authors include Sharon Cameron (The Dark Unwinding), Raina Telgemeier (Drama), Jeff Hirsch (Magisterium), Kate Messner (Capture the Flag), Eliot Schrefer (Endangered), Maggie Stiefvater (The Raven Boys), and James Dashner (Infinity Ring).  What a great group to be included in, right?

There was this moment, when I looked over the standing room only crowd to the skyline of NY beyond, of complete awe.  This has been such an amazing year!  After the event, I met fellow YAMuse, Veronica Rossi, for blood orange martinis and Sushi. We definitely know how to support each other! (She did a great recap with pics on her blog)

The next morning I was off to my first Bookexpo.  It is a HUGE trade show and there was a long line of people sitting on the floor, just waiting to get inside.  Books are everywhere.  Big books, celebrity books, children's books, crazy books...  Its like book heaven.  Luckily my publisher's booth, Scholastic, was easy to spot with its trademark red logo.  Whenever I was lost, I just looked up and looked for red.

The waiting crowd for the YA Editor Buzz Panel

The editors on the panel. 

My first event, was the editor's YA Buzz Panel.  The room was a large ballroom and it was packed!  The authors for the buzz panel sit in the audience and the editors are featured, talking about each of the selected books and their process with acquiring and editing them.  The covers of each book is displayed on a huge screen.  My editor, Aimee Friedman, went first and she was amazing.  I had to look down at the table the whole time to keep from bursting into tears.

That's my editor, Aimee, helping with the line

After the panel, I went to the autographing session and actually had a line.  They had to cut the line off when the time was up!  (SO EXCITING for a debut author to actually have a line and to sign your very first ARCs!)  I was so thrilled to see Veronica Rossi in my line, that I leaped to my feet and gave her a BIG hug (and the YAMuses know I'm NOT a hugger).  That afternoon, I had lunch with my agent, Sarah Davies, and a magazine interview for Justine Magazine.  Later, I had dinner with Aimee, Lisa Sandell (another editor at Scholastic), and debut novelist, Sharon Cameron, who's fantastic DARK UNWINDING comes out in September.


The next day, it was time for the author part of the YA BUZZ panel.  We took the stage here...

(Yikes!  No pressure, right?)  Actually, it was great fun (once the nerves settled) and I loved meeting other fabulous authors -Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stents (Colin Fischer), Gennifer Albin (Crewel), Kat Zhang (What’s Left of Me), and Marissa Moss (Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris)- as well as moderator, Lisa Von Drasek, from Bank Street College of Education’s Center for Children’s Literature.  Afterwards, I did another signing at the Scholastic booth and, once again, we had to cut the line off.  So fun!


There was some wonderful press about SKINNY from the expo.   This from THE ATLANTIC, and this from PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY.  The TWITTER and blog coverage was also amazing.  And there were so many, many surreal quotes ("Ms. Cooner, this is Ed-your driver.  I'm waiting by the side entrance when you're ready to leave."  "Let me take you back to the Green Room.")


But what meant even more to me were the many touching, personal comments from readers. 


Connecting with readers. 


It's what we all dream of when we're sitting at our solitary desk, typing out a manuscript that we have no idea if anyone will ever see. 

While Veronica is enjoying BEA, I have the pleasure of introducing today's guest, Elizabeth Schonhorst. I've been working with Elizabeth on my WIP and she is AWESOME: Insightful, talented, nice (but firm). She gets the big picture, yet no typo slips through. Basically, everything a writer can ask for in an editor. So whip out those notepads and get ready to hear her take on Muddle in the Middle:   

Hello YA Musers! I’m so pleased to be adding my two cents about this week’s theme, The Muddle in the Middle. Normally I’m writing editorial letters or manuscript critiques, so I will try my best to keep up the very high standard of clever and insightful writing the YA Muses have established.

After leaving New York and my job as an editor, I spent a few years working for an education nonprofit as a sort of filing and paperwork Goddess. It was very glamorous work. During this time I actually read books purely for pleasure, and not for a paycheck. It was a relief not to have a stack of manuscripts on my nightstand, or to be composing marketing copy in the shower. Publishing an author’s work of art is a serious business, and it consumed nearly my every waking thought.

Which is why my current work as a freelance editor is so rewarding and fun. I get to work with talented new authors and read fabulous manuscripts.  I get to do all the fun parts of being an editor without all the stressful and difficult parts--like presenting to the sales team (gulp). The process of editing a manuscript and helping an author create that saleable story is tricky, and exciting, and confusing and exhilarating. There are a bazillion elements that need to line up just right, and at just the right time.  So when I get to the middle of a manuscript and suddenly say to myself, “Oh goodness! Where am I?” I know the author’s gotten muddled.

There are two things that cause a muddled middle, and unfortunately one can sometimes lead to the other. The first is a sound structure (or the lack thereof). I’m talking about the world you build, the plot you meticulously outline, and the characters you’ve fully fleshed out. Just like a house, a strong frame and foundation are important, so you want to take your time when building them. Make sure you are doing the structural work equivalent of a professional contractor, rather than a teenager in woodshop class. How strong your structure truly is becomes most obvious in the middle. If you haven’t built a strong structure, the readers lose focus, and the story becomes a series of scenes with nothing perceptible tying them together.

Which leads to the other cause of a muddled middle – the disappearing main plot. In the best books the main plot acts like rocket thrusters, blasting the reader through the story, and always giving them a solid idea of where they are headed. Even if we’re reading a chapter heavy on backstory, or a sudden flashback, we can always see how these tie into the main plot because it is always present. When the main plot starts to recede, the readers become unsteady. Events continue to happen but we no longer have a sense of what we’re building toward. We don’t know where we’re going, and we’re totally stuck in the mud(dle).

I think this is really the most important thing to remember when writing a story – a relentless and never-wavering eye on the main plotline. There may be some really cool subplots you’ve written, or some fascinating exposition about the setting, but they can never make up for a lack of focus on why the story is being told in the first place. Not only does it keep your middle un-muddled, it can really help with another elusive but oh-so-important element of writing: the pace. A rocket-blaster plot is going to yank that reader through the story. It’s cheesy and cliché to say it, but I am a complete sucker for a “pacey” novel, and I happen to think most teenagers are as well.

  

Elizabeth Schonhorst is a freelance editor, as well as a query reader for a children’s books agent. She previously edited books for Bloomsbury Children’s Books and Henry Holt Books for Young Readers. She lives in the Washington, D.C. suburbs with her family. You can contact her at manuscriptkungfu@gmail.com.

The middle is the most challenging part of a novel to write.   For every book I’ve written, the brainstorming process goes something like this:

Seemingly brilliant idea comes out of nowhere.

I spend some time figuring out the concept.  And then I know how it starts.  Yes!

And what if everything she thinks she knows is wrong? Or what if she’s right, but the consequences are not what she expects? Yes!  I know how it ends.

Once I have the concept, the inciting incident and the all important ending, I start writing.  The problem is that this is not a short story.  It’s a novel.  And a whole heck of a lot has to happen between point A and point Z.  Damn those 24 other letters. 

And I seriously get overwhelmed.  Because how am I going to come up with 36 or so other chapters that make up the middle?  And then I discovered a little thing called plot structure.  Yeah, I know, it’s not as foolproof as Muddle-Mend XL, but it helps to have a game plan. 

1.       Know your story problem:  I’m not talking about the literal problem with your story, I’m talking about the main conflict that drives your story forward, that drives your character forward.  What is the external problem your main character must solve?  What is the internal problem?  This is usually tied to your initial concept, and should be inherent in your one line pitch:  A girl who accidentally binds her soul to a boy who is her mortal enemy (Silver).  Until you can succinctly state your primary story problem, you are not ready to think about the middle.   

2.      Steps toward solving it:  Now that you know what the problem is, what steps must your character take to solve it.  In Silver, my main character had to figure out who she was and how to protect herself.  Those general concepts led to more specific scenes.    

3.      Obstacles to solving problem:  No one wants to read a story where the solution is as simple as an internet search, right?  We want our characters to work.  To suffer.  So what characters or situations will get in the way of the main character’s efforts?  This is where brainstorming with a lot of “what if” questions can help you flesh out scenes.  What if the only way to protect herself is to kill the boy she’s bonded to?  What if she falls in love with him?  What if she can’t trust herself? 

4.      Other character’s motivations:  Sometimes it’s helpful to flip the script and think about the story from other characters’ viewpoints.  What is the antagonist’s story problem?  What steps does he take to solve it?  What obstacles does the main character place in his way?  Think about what each character in the story wants, and keep it in mind when you write their scenes. 

5.      Sequences:  This is a term from films that really helped me sort my way through a book.  Coming up with 50 scenes = scary.  Coming up with eight sequences?  Much, much more doable.  Often you can think of the big scenes in the novel fairly easily, those points of major tension that you can’t wait to write, but how do you build to them?  By planning for them.  And building scenes around those big scenes.  Map out the four our five major turning points in your novel.  For each of those, think of what led your character to that point?  Write down four things that need to happen in order for that scene to make sense.  What is the fall out from that scene?  What must your character do now? Now map them out.  

6.      Allow for Surprises:  Having a plan can keep you from getting bogged down or too far off track, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give your imagination some freedom to veer off track now and then.  As long as you know where you're headed, don’t be afraid of the unexpected character revelation or scene that appears out of nowhere. (Someday, when we can have a spoilery chat, I’ll tell you how a character in Silver revealed a huge secret near the end of Act 2 that changed everything I thought I knew about my story).  That’s what first drafts are for.  Just know that if you get too far astray, you can always come back to the original plan.

7.      Keep your Eyes on the Prize:  Remember that awesome twist ending that you came up when you first thought of your brilliant idea?  Don’t lose sight of it.  The difference between a book that you can’t put down, and one where you get halfway through and shrug, is often as simple as plot structure.  Every scene should be moving your character forward in the story.  Meandering off course is an indulgence we can’t afford.  Every scene should tie into the central story problem, and build the tension.  Does your character learn a skill that will be needed later?  Is an important piece of the puzzle revealed? Does the character learn her limitations?  Are the bad guys closing in? Is she running out of time?  Is the problem looming, even in the quieter scenes? 

As writers, I think we suffer as much as our characters in the middle.  It's that point where the initial infatuation with a new project has worn off and you have to find out if this love is real.

Sorry for the delay on today's posting. Katherine has been running around like a madwoman with the STAGES ON PAGES Tour, Book 2 edits, Book 3 outlines, and end of the school year festivities. She asked me to post a picture from the front lines of the tour...

Katherine with Elise Allen, Stasia Kehoe, & Gretchen McNeil
Photo provided by The San Mateo County Library

Also, because I've got you hostage, I'm gonna share a pic of my little guy, a.k.a. The New Ballou (TNB).

Gotta start 'em young

Today, Ms. Monday (a.k.a Donna) is on her way to NYC for BookExpo America (BEA) to show off SKINNY to the publishing community. She's even featured on the "Middle Grade and YA Author Buzz Panel" (awesome, I know). We're switching days this week, so be looking for a full report from the BEA front lines on Friday. 

With the success of NVR-SLUMP®, FEAR-B-GONE, and 1-(900)-HLP-D-CRZY, The Muses are long overdue for a new product offering: MUDDLE-MEND XL®.

And because you (yes, YOU) are such a Dear Reader, I’m giving you a sneak peek before we go into mass production.  Here’s a snippet of the initial marketing campaign to help give you an idea of what MUDDLE-MEND XL® is all about:

Does your novel suffer from a saggy Act 2? Are there more yawns than page-turns as your story rounds out the halfway mark? Does your critique group throw around terms like “episodic” and “lack of focus”? If so, you’re suffering from TheMiddleMuddlenitis (TMM).

Using research conducted on the microstructure of novels, we scientifically derived the unique formula of MUDDLE-MEND XL® in a convenient single shot ready to apply directly in the middle of your manuscript – simply open the sterile pouch, inject, and wait for these amazing results:

MUDDLE-MEND XL® sharpens the focus in Act 2 by ensuring you that central thrust (as presented in the opening chapters) continues to be the force driving everything in Act 2. Any unnecessary scenes that fail to push the plot or character arc along will wither and die.

Often TMM causes characters to lose motivation – there are plenty of scenes, but little purpose. MUDDLE-MEND XL® cures this by ensuring each character has a strong need that’s driving them through Act 2 and beyond.

The middle is where the deepest emotional pivot often happens. Unfortunately, TMM softens this powerful punch and leaves the story feeling blah. Luckily, MUDDLE-MEND XL® prevents a cushy landing for the main character. It pushes the dark points darker and makes that bottom r-o-c-k-y. It heightens the sensations of that transition so it feels like a death and glorious rebirth. With MUDDLE-MEND XL®, punches aren’t pulled, but lessons are learned.

‘But, Bret,’ you say, ‘a product this remarkable has to cost a fortune.’

To the general pubic, Dear Reader, it will…but for you (yes, YOU) we’ve authorized a one time introductory offer of $399.97*

^{*checks payable to Bret Ballou}

Together, we can end the debilitating horrors of TheMiddleMuddlenitis.