Guest Post by Lauren Bailey

Something Borrowed:
A Few Words on Originality in Creative Writing

by Lauren Bailey

Even the Bible, written over 2,000 years ago, proclaims it: there is nothing new under the sun. As writers one of the greatest challenges we face is the fear that we are unoriginal. A library that contained all the projects abandoned when its author feels derivative of another work would be the largest on Earth, larger even than the historical library at Alexandria.

The fear is not an irrational one, especially when critics praise new literature for its novelty — and given that post-modern literature tends to become stylistically inventive and at times even obscure, there seems to be a lot of pressure to bring constant innovation not only to the content but also to the form of literature.

Still, too many new authors are too easily discouraged by this originality "requirement," which is mostly imaginary and almost always misinterpreted.

Granted, writing any work of literature, be it poetry, short stories, novels, biographies, or anything in between, does demand some degree of creativity — you can't write anything if you don't have an idea. But the "requirement" ends there, at least in terms of sweeping innovation.

If you have an idea, you are already innovated enough to be original.

Anything you write will ultimately be influenced by other sources you've encountered throughout your life. It's inescapable. But that doesn't make your work unoriginal. And that's what authors need to remember at all times.

How many romance or fantasy novels do you think have been published? More than you could keep in your house, or even all the houses on your block, probably. Wuthering Heights was a romance novel, among many others dating even farther back in time. Yet new romance novels are written and published every day.

Are each of these works totally inspired and absolutely new? Absolutely not.

Take a more "sophisticated" example: Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. Stripped of characterization and specific plot lines, The Corrections is a coming-of-age novel about families in the era of technology. Family plots and coming-of-age stories are as numerous as the stars.
The fact that someone else in history had written a story about families didn't stop Franzen, though, and critics are still praising it as one of the major works of American fiction in the last decade.

What distinguishes Franzen's novel from any other coming-of-age story? The answer is simple: Franzen. Ultimately the difference comes from the fact that Franzen and no one else wrote The Corrections. Only he could bring his particular insights, turns of phrase, dialects, plot twists, characters to the book in the way he did.

You aren't Jonathan Franzen, but when you write, you bring your own set of experiences to the table and tell stories differently than anyone else. Give the same writing prompt to 20 people and all of them will write a different story.

So the next time you are worried about your story being unoriginal or derivative, try to subdue the voice in your head that's saying that, and just write the story. You'll never know if it is original or not if you don't write it.

Bio: This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments via email: blauren99 @gmail.com.

Interview with Christina Katz, author of The Writer's Workout

Christina Katz is the author of three books from Writer’s Digest: The Writer’s Workout, Get Known Before the Book Deal, and Writer Mama. Her writing career tips and parenting advice appear regularly in national, regional, and online publications. A “gentle taskmaster” over the past decade to hundreds of writers, Christina’s students go from unpublished to published, build professional writing career skills, and increase their creative confidence over time. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago and a BA in English from Dartmouth College. A popular speaker on creative career growth, Christina presents for writing conferences, literary events, MFA writing programs, and libraries. She is the creator and host of the Northwest Author Series in Wilsonville, Oregon, where she lives with her husband, her daughter, and far too many pets. Learn more at ChristinaKatz.com.

So, what’s The Writer’s Workout all about?

The Writer’s Workout contains 366 ideas—one idea per day—intended to encourage writers into prosperous action. It reviews critical skills for every writer such as improving craft, learning to sell work, how and when to specialize, ways to keep learning and growing, self-promotion from the basics through advanced topics, and how to balance traditional publication with self-publication.

What makes The Writer’s Workout different from your first two books?

Like all my books, The Writer’s Workout is a mashup of various types of writing instruction. However this book contains a distillation of my experience, my students’ collective experiences over the past decade, and the universal experience of being a writer across the ages in the form of what I hope are 366 timeless quotes. This is my third book and it differs from my first two books quite a bit in focus, objective, and format.

How is The Writer’s Workout different from other writing books already out there?

One thing that makes The Writer’s Workout unique is that the rise and fall of the how-to curve is set against the backdrop of the seasons of the year. The seasonal backdrop helped me deliver advice for writers on four levels: beginner, intermediate, seasoned pro, and veteran—each paralleling a season: spring, summer, fall, or winter. The result, I hope, is one idea every day that will help writers find and maintain literary momentum all year long in these highly distracted times.

Some people say these are tough times for writers. Others say there are opportunities around every corner. What do you say?

I say we are living in a gig economy, where professionals are stringing freelance jobs together into creative careers. We’re all doing the best we can, finding and maintaining our momentum. Not only can The Writer’s Workout assist folks who are just getting started supplementing their income with writing, it can help people who have already been writing professionally recognize that there are more opportunities to build income streams writing than any of us have realized. And then it’s just a matter of choosing the goals that will best suit your goals.

How did you come to write The Writer’s Workout?

Prior to landing the deal for this book, I was offered the opportunity to write a different book about how to be an organized writer—a topic that, unfortunately, did not feel like a good fit for the way I work.

I recommended a former student for the job and started asking myself, if not that book, then what book did I want to write? Jane Friedman, then publisher at Writer’s Digest, and I sat down in an airport restaurant after the Writer’s Digest conference in January 2010, and brainstormed the idea that evolved into The Writer’s Workout. Basically, I wanted to encapsulate everything that I’d learned from working closely with hundreds of writers over ten years. Two years and many thousands of words later, here it is.

The Writer's Workout is almost 400-pages long, yet you offer classes on writing “short stuff” and “micro-publishing.” As a writer, how do you reconcile both shorter and longer works?

You have to look at it this way: the book is 366 short pieces collected and placed in an order that creates a longer movement. That’s exactly how I was taught to write fiction in graduate school. This write short before you write long school-of-thought is also how I teach writers to draft and polish publishable work. We start short and then extend the jumps until, next thing you know, the writer is writing long pieces like features, e-books and even books. How? By pulling together shorter pieces to create longer pieces.

You have been called a “gentle taskmaster” by your students. What does this mean and why would writers need this kind of help?

A coach is a person who trains others to perform better. Every writer needs a kick in the pants now and then. This book has plenty of boots in the caboose and also acknowledges the challenging times we’re living in. Reading this book is like having a personal coach for your writing career, who holds you accountable to your potential, every day of the year. Get this book if you would like to have your own personal coach without the massive expense of paying for one. You’ll be your own best writing coach by the time the book is done.

Our workdays are constantly disrupted these days. What do you say to the writer who has trouble focusing and following through?

I rarely hear students in my training groups complaining about dramas or distractions in their lives. If something upsets their focus, it’s a major life disturbance like a trip to the emergency room, a spouse’s job loss, or a death in the family. That’s life calling, not a distraction.

Our attention can be hijacked by one hundred and one meaningless distractions per minute. I say turn up the focus and the distractions will fall away. Drama and distraction are not necessary for self-expression but they sure can impede it. I say keep the drama on the page. You can get hooked on making grounded creative progress just as you can get hooked on chasing every distraction and fanning the flames of every potential drama. The cure for discouragement is accomplishing a short-term objective every day.

I understand The Writer’s Workout originally had a different title. What was the original title?

The Writer’s Workout actually had three previous titles. I’ll share them if folks, who have read the book, will tell me which they think is the best match with the final version.

1. The first title was: Read. Write. Grow.

2. The second title was: The Everyday Writing Coach.

3. The third title was: The Anyday Writing Coach.

4. And the fourth and final title was: The Writer’s Workout.

Personally, I prefer The Writer’s Workout. But what does everyone else think?

Any final comments you would like to make in closing?

At the end of the day, it does not matter if you are self-published or traditionally published, blogging or not blogging, a book-sniffer or a digital diva, a social media maven or a social media deer-in-the-headlights—what matters is that you cultivate the creativity that wants to be expressed through you. That’s your job. Go do it!

Publication Opportunity: YA Anthology Looking for Historical Romances!

I received this Call for Submissions and wanted to pass it along in case any of you are interested in submitting... looks like a neat project!

FROM PUGALICIOUS PRESS:

We are looking for YA short stories to include in our first ebook anthology, titled Timeless!

If your short story is between 3000 and 7500 words and fits into the genre of YA historical romance with some twists, we want to read it. The story can include steampunk, fantasy, or adventure, as long as it includes some historical elements then we are interested in reading it.

• Submit the whole manuscript as a Word .doc file (no .docx) by March 30, 2012, with the subject heading: submission–YA anthology.

• Please include a bio, publishing credits if any, and a synopsis.

• Email: pugaliciouspress(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @ in sending email)

• Website is http://pugaliciouspress.com/submissions/
  

Review of "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was impressed by how authentic the voice of the main character, Caitlin, seemed as a portrayal of a young girl with Asperger’s Syndrome. On Kathryn Erskine's website she shares a long list of books she read to research Autism and Asperger’s; it also mentions that she interviewed experts and teachers and had them read her manuscript and give her feedback. I think this level of detailed research shines through this book. I took a literature class last semester that focused on portrayals of disability in fiction, and one of the commonalities we discussed was the tendency of authors to give disability some sort of heightened symbolic meaning, or for the characters with disabilities to be defined wholly by their disabilities/differences rather than being portrayed as whole and nuanced human beings. I thought Kathryn Erskine avoided both of these tired tropes in Mockingbird. Caitlin’s voice is unique, but not in a way that impeded me from seeing her as a vivid, real character. As I read further along into the book, it was like her disability faded into the background and I knew Caitlin more for her other traits: her artistic talent, her bravery and curiosity, her quick thinking, her stubbornness, and her compassion and thoughtfulness.

This book tackles difficult subjects—grief, violence, bullying, difference—with a gentle and generous spirit. It is a great reminder to students (and teachers and parents!) that we all have our differences, but we also all have much the same about us. Mockingbird seems to argue that the only way to combat exclusion and meanness is to strive towards understanding each other and being patient with each other, and though some adult readers might find the treatment of this theme/motif a bit heavy-handed, I think it is a valuable lesson for all readers and one that is worth sharing.

Caveats: A school shooting plays a major plot point in the book, which may be upsetting for some students to read about. Teachers should be extra sensitive to this topic and perhaps use the book as a jumping-off point for discussion on school safety, violence, bullying, etc.

Teaching idea: This book would be excellent to pair with To Kill a Mockingbird (and possibly the film version of the novel as well.) Teachers might also work in creative art time by giving students an assignment to draw a mockingbird as a charcoal or pencil sketch (black and white) and then to do another version with pastels or watercolors (color). What different beauty can be found in each version? A reader-response question might be: Think of a time you had an argument or disagreement with someone. Write down your point of view of what happened. Now, turn over the piece of paper and write about the same event as if you are the other person telling the story. Get inside this person’s head/perspective, much as Caitlin tries to do in the book when she is learning to empathize with others.

Other books by Kathryn Erskine: Quaking (2007) and The Absolute Value of Mike (2011)

Themes/motifs: grief and healing, art, family, community, friendship, loss, disability and difference, black & white vs. color & nuance

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Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop: Deadline March 1

For young writers in high school who live in Ohio or the surrounding area, this could be a really neat opportunity for this summer!

The Kenyon Review will accept applications through March 1st for its Young Writers Workshop, a creative writing adventure for 16-18 year olds held in Gambier, Ohio. Two sessions will be offered this summer: June 24-July 7 and July 15-28, 2012. Young Writers Workshop is an intensive two-week workshop for intellectually curious high school students who value writing. KR’s goal is to help students develop their creative and critical abilities with language—to become better writers and more insightful thinkers.

Learn more here: http://www.kenyonreview.org/workshops/young-writers/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mar2012

For those of you in southern California, I'll be holding my Fifth Annual Summer Writing Camp again this summer -- stay tuned for more info! :)

Interview with Children's Book Author Joanne Lécuyer

I am so pleased to have Joanne Lécuyer as a guest on the blog today! She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa and a Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Quebec. She is also a Professional and Personal Coach and Reiki Master. Joanne has worked for the Canadian federal government for over 25 years, with the last 15 years in strategic and organizational communications to help management and employees communicate better. She has published two children’s books “The Witch, the Cat and the Egg” (2010), and “Kaptain Vamp” (2011).

What would you like readers to know about you as an introduction?

I’m Canadian and was born in Timmins, Ontario. I come from a small town called North Bay, Ontario, where I lived until I was 18. I now live in a small rural community near Ottawa, Ontario with my husband Rick, our dog Kato and two cats, Black Magic and Minx (photos on the website). I love nature so I like small towns. I only starting writing children’s books 2 years ago and I love it!

Tell us about your most recent book "Kaptain Vamp." What was your inspiration behind this book?

Kaptain Vamp is my second children’s book. The story is about a young vampire named Allistaire, who is also part human, who wants to change the fact that humans are afraid and distrustful of vampires. His family has been living among humans for hundreds of years and they’ve always used their abilities for good. One day, while reading his favorite superhero comic, Allistaire decides that he’s going to do everything he can to help humans. He enlists the aid of his best friend Rich to help him become Kaptain Vamp.

Since vampires have been so popular with teens and adults, for the last few years, I thought it would be fun to write a story about them for kids. I liked the challenge of taking this theme and making it positive, so it wouldn’t give kids nightmares. Also, I thought a vampire-human superhero would make a good story. I’m getting a lot of good feedback – seems my readers agree.

What have you learned through writing this book?

It’s possible to write a positive story about vampires. Also that, although it’s a challenge, it’s gratifying to self-publish.

How did you get started writing?

I’ve been writing stories for children for about 2 years now. But, it all started about 6-7 years ago, after spending a weekend with my younger brother. He’s a graphic artist and has always been extremely creative. On my way back home on the train, I jotted a story down on some scraps of paper that I called Topsyturvia. When I got home I just put the pages away.

In 2009, I remembered the story and transcribed into my computer and just kept adding to it. I got to about 6,000 words and read it to my husband–who can sometimes be brutally honest. He told me that he thought it was a very good story. I gave a copy to a few colleagues with children and they liked it too. I worked on it some more and asked my brother to do the illustrations for the book Topsyturvia. And then more stories came. In 2010, I published my first book The Witch, the Cat and the Egg, and in 2011 I published Kaptain Vamp. Topsyturvia should be out later in 2012!

What is your writing process like? Do you write on a computer? In a spiral notebook? Do you draw illustrations?

I seem to get my story ideas early in the morning while I’m walking to catch the bus or during my commute into the city. But sometimes they come when I’m really tired, after a long day at work. I always keep a small notepad and pen with me to jot down ideas (something small enough to keep in my purse). Generally, I sit down to write when the inspiration comes which is sometimes once a day, a week or a month. In one sitting, I may write as little as a brief outline or a whole chapter. When I’m getting close to finishing a story, I’ll stay up until the wee hours of the morning to get it done. I like writing with a computer since you can move things around.

When I started writing children’s books, I decided that I wanted them to include lots of images and they had to be in color. So I was looking for the style of illustrations to match the story I was trying to create. I like working with different illustrators. I met the illustrator for Kaptain Vamp, Amy Rottinger, through LinkedIn. I’d liked what I saw on her website (www.arottinger.daportfolio.com). Amy and I chatted on the phone. She was very enthusiastic, and we just hit it off. We worked through email. I gave her an electronic version of the book, told her how many images I wanted in each chapter, and asked her to submit her ideas. She was great to work with and the results are amazing. I love the book. We are now working on a comic book. When I was younger, I thought I might be an illustrator. I realized however that I was more of a copy artist. I had trouble inventing characters or scenes. In the last two years, I found that I’m a better storyteller. For kids stories, I think pictures help create some of the story magic and I don’t want to write a book without them.

How do you get ideas for what you write?

The Witch book idea came from memories of reading Snow White and Cinderella. I just love how they could talk to the animals. So Juliane is a young witch that lives on the border of a magical forest who can talk and understand the magical creatures that live there. For Kaptain Vamp, I wanted write about good vampires and a superhero type. In Topsyturvia, it’s all about mixing different animals even the flora and fauna, and I’m using dream time as the vehicle for getting there. A lot of it is using my imagination. That’s what is fun about fantasy and fiction – anything goes. But you still have to make it somewhat believable – that’s the challenge.

What is your biggest advice for other writers and young people reaching for their dreams?

Just do it! Write down your ideas when you get them. I carry a little notepad with me and jot down all my ideas in there. When I have the time to finally sit and write, I pull it out and the notes and ideas get me going. Write the best story you can and ask friends and colleagues to be your test readers. They can help find the holes in the story and give you ideas. Don’t try to edit your own work. A good editor is your friend. As the author, I think we sometimes forget to add some of the details that we have in our head. Of course, you don’t have to take all the suggestions you get. But I do think that considering them makes for a better story in the end. I write for children, so I get kids and their parents to read the draft manuscript. Initially, I think I write the story for me. But I also want to share it, so it needs to be enjoyable for the reader–the kids, their parents or grandparents.

What are some of your favorite books?

Did I mention that I really enjoy fiction and fantasy? For children’s books, I would have to say all the Disney classics. That’s what I grew up reading. Other books that stand out are The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Chrysalids, and The Stand. My husband and I are reading an oldie but goodie trilogy about Merlin by Mary Stewart (Merlin is my favourite character). I’m also reading a French series called “Les chevaliers d’Émeraude” (The Knights of Emerald) by Anne Robillard – there are 12 books and I’m only on book 3. I’ve just finished the “Twelfth Insight” by James Redfield – I loved The Celestine Prophecy.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

When I started writing stories for children, I decided that I would write the kinds of books that leave my readers feeling good and wanting more; that also leave them with a smile on their faces. The type of book that you can read to kids before they go to bed that will help them have good dreams! That’s what Topsy Books is all about. My personal motto is “Dare to imagine and believe in the magic of possibilities!” I hope that new readers will make Topsy Books part of their reading collection.

There will be a sequel to The Witch, the Cat and the Egg in 2012 and to Kaptain Vamp next year. I’m currently working on two comic books and a French version of the Witch book. My books are available on my website, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com

Connect with Joanne:

• Topsy Books website: http://topsybooks.com/ourbooks/

• Topsy Books Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Topsy-Books/179610058715988

• Topsy Books Twitter: @JoTopsyBooks: http://twitter.com/#!/JoTopsyBooks

Review of "Will Grayson, Will Grayson"

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

I greatly enjoyed this book. I have read and loved a number of other YA books by John Green (Looking for Alaska is one of my all-time favorites) and I just read David Levithan’s first novel for adults, The Lover’s Dictionary, which I also found clever and fun and surprisingly wise, much like Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

I think teenagers will be drawn into this book immediately by the by turns sarcastic, witty, and almost painfully honest voices of the two Will Grayson narrators. The structure of alternating chapters is addictive and really pulls the story forward, and it is a satisfying moment when the storylines first intersect. I was happy that they remained interconnected throughout the remainder of the novel. Technology and the Internet are of high importance to the plot of the book, which I think teenagers will relate to, and I was impressed by how these two authors manage to thoroughly inhabit the world of teenagers—everything from text messaging to IM conversations/ lingo to the logistics of getting a fake ID so you can go see a band you love at an over-21 club. The voices of the two narrators feel distinct, which is heightened by one will grayson only writing in lower-case.

I think this book is also an important and worthy read for the way it portrays gay characters with nuance, compassion and honesty. Tiny I think represents one possible portrayal of a gay man, that perhaps is closer to a stereotype we often see in media and pop culture of the “gay best friend.” But I think this resists empty stereotype in the book because Tiny is juxtaposed with will grayson, who is still in the process of understanding his identity as a gay man, and Gideon, who seems somewhere in the middle —accepting of his gay identity, yet not as flamboyant or outspoken about it as Tiny is. Moreover, this book is not just about queer identity, but about identity in general and about all the many different ways to love and be loved by others.

Caveats: The book includes underage drinking, cursing, and going to over-21 clubs with fake IDs. It might be most appropriate for a high school audience.

Themes/motifs: friendship, family, class issues, gay/queer identity, technology and Internet communication, happiness, anger, music, self-identity, memory, love, guilt, redemption, insiders/outsiders

Teaching ideas: In the book Tiny writes Tiny Dancer, a musical about his own life and experiences as a gay teenager, and it is through this act of writing his story for the stage that he reevaluates his friendships, comes to acceptance of the pain he has gone through, and traces broader "themes" of his life. Along a similar vein, teachers might use this book to challenge students to revisit a scene from their own lives, perhaps a painful or intense memory or turning point that shaped their identity, and write this as a scene that might appear in a play. In writing about it in this format (rather than a journal entry or a poem, for example) students are forced to pull back from the memory and consider it from an outside perspective, and also perhaps delve a little inside the hearts and minds of the other people who took part in the memory, the other "actors" in the "scene."

Other books by John Green: Looking for Alaska; An Abundance of Katherines; Paper Towns; The Fault in Our Stars; contributor to the short story anthology Let it Snow.

Other books by David Levithan: Boy Meets Boy; The Realm of Possibility; Are We There Yet?; Marly’s Ghost; Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist; Wide Awake; Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List; How They Met, and Other Stories; Likely Story; Love is the Higher Law; Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares; The Lover’s Dictionary. He is editorial director at Scholastic, and the founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is devoted to finding new voices and new authors in teen literature.

View all my Goodreads reviews