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Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
I used to set ambitious New Year's goals every year ("I'm going to write 2000 words a day, every day!") but then get discouraged when I inevitably realized that, once again, I had set a goal or goals that were unrealistic. Or that had originally realistic but then got put on the back burner because of circumstances out of my control that had to take higher priority.
This year, I'm taking a different approach. While I am going to set some realistic work-related goals (to be posted on the MiG Writers blog) which I have tried hard to make realistic, I'm also going to work toward an overall goal:
Make more time to read and create books.
It's so easy to say, "I wish I had more time to xxxx" but the truth is that it's up to me to MAKE more time for what's important to me.
One of my tendencies is to want to do everything. I want to write (and illustrate!) more picture books. I want to work on my new MG and YA novel projects, because I know my writing and knowledge of the industry has improved over the years and I'm much confident about getting these newer book projects published. I have some fun nonfiction book ideas for grown-ups that I want to turn into book proposals so I can start pitching them. I'm thinking of self-publishing a compilation of my writing comics, but I also know that self-publishing requires a lot more admin/promo/marketing time. I want to keep all my webcomics updated but know I have way too many webcomics to keep updated. I want to improve my German language skills before Jeff and I attend Essen in late 2013. I want to improve my French language skills before Jeff and I visit French-speaking friends in late 2013. I want to write a new song for my music group to perform in our concert at FilKONtario. I want to reorg my home office. I want to learn more about non-digital art techniques like ink and watercolour, acrylics and multimedia textural art. I want to turn some of my cartoons and daily doodles into greeting cards. I want to help beef up content in my various collab group blogs. I want to improve my Photoshop skills and also go through Lynda.com tutorials on various creative software packages I've purchased in the last year. I want to write more songs.
I could go on and on and on. Clearly, I can't do all the above. I need to let go of many of these goals, else I know I'm going to end up not attempting any of them very well. So again, I've decided to focus on the following:
Make more time to read and create books.
Throughout this coming year, in addition to my regular Inkygirl.com posts, I'm going to be sharing my experience in trying to make more time to read and create books.
My first steps:
1. Managing my email more efficiently.
2. Being more aware of how much time I'm spending on social media.
I'll report back on both of these first steps in upcoming Inkygirl posts, so stay tuned. :-)
Keep in mind that most of the respondents are kidlit/YA and/or publishing industry people. 71% describe themselves as writers, 16% book bloggers, 13% teachers, 9% librarians, 8% illustrators, 7% editors, 2% publishers, 1% agents.
Word of mouth was the the most popular way that people said they discovered new books to read.
Many said that they discover books by browsing library and bookstore shelves as well as recommendations from librarians and booksellers. Quite a few mentioned Amazon recommendations and NPR. Others mentioned talk shows like Oprah, television interviews, NPR reviews & discussions, publisher catalogs, Audible.com author blogs, individual author blogs, when book awards are announced, library discards, book clubs, radio reviews, favorite blogs that also recommend books, literature courses, book calendars, books encountered while doing research, panels and discussions at conventions, book swaps, publisher & bookseller previews.
The goal of these surveys is to help writers in their craft and business, and results are always posted here on Inkygirl.
KITE TAILS is a free online newsletter published by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
Each issue is packed with all kinds of useful info about the craft and business of writing and illustrating for young people, including interviews with agents and editors.
Some of the focus is on the West Coast, but there is still a ton of valuable advice and information of use to all children's writers and illustrators.
- Common Core State Standards: Education Reform and What It Means For Illustrators
- Report from SCBWI-L.A. Illustrator's Day includes useful details about what attendees learned. Advice from children's book writer/illustrator Dan Krall: "Don't try to second-guess what other people to see."
- If It's Work, Is It Supposed To Be Fun? A First Look At SCBWI-L.A.'s Working Writer's Retreat 2012
- On Queries - by literary agent Michael Bourret
- A Will Write For Chocolate comic by yours truly :-)
- Journey To The SCBWI Summer Conference - by my friend Maple Lam (who won a place in the SCBWI-LA Mentorship Program!)
Some of my takeaways from the talk: How important it is for grown-ups to encourage imagination and creativity in children. How just a few encouraging words to a young artist or writer could have a deep and long-lasting impact.
Here's a gift idea that every writer can appreciate: TIME TO WRITE.
What to write under "Details":
Depending on your relationship with the recipient, you could offer to do dishes for a week, pick up the kids from school, # hours of running errands, grocery shopping, babysitting and so on.
Just download the high-res version (1.3 MB), print it, cut out the certificate using the guidelines, fill in the information.
Ideas for presenting the gift:
- Slip the certificate into a white envelope & then decorate the envelope with Christmas stickers, sparkles, etc.
- Roll up the certificate and tie a colorful ribbon around it. Present it as is, or wrapped in gold tissue paper.
I was thrilled to find out that the French version of I'M BORED was available for ordering online, and then got curious about the process.
How does a picture book get translated? Are there any issues that children's book writers and illustrators need to be aware of, when working a project?
Photo of Adrienne: Tanja Tiziana. Steampunk background: http://valerianastock.deviantart.com
I met Adrienne Kress through the Toronto MG/YA Author Group (Torkidlit). She's smart, funny and passionate about her craft, and I've appreciated her advice and encouragement over the years. I interviewed Adrienne about her middle grade novels last year, and I can't wait to buy her new YA steampunk novel, THE FRIDAY SOCIETY (Dial, Dec/2012). More info on her website: AdrienneKress.com.
Summary of the plot from a starred Quill & Quire review of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY: "The steampunk adventure novel, set in Edwardian London, follows the lives of three very different teenage girls, each of whom works for an important man but also maintains a life of her own. The three strangers – Cora (the lab assistant), Nellie (the magician’s assistant), and Michiko (the Japanese fighter’s assistant) – find themselves thrust together as the result of a horrific unsolved murder and quickly discover that, by combining their special skills, they can accomplish more than they ever thought possible."
Above: BookEnds interviews Adrienne about steampunk fiction, writing & THE FRIDAY SOCIETY.
Q. What was your creative process for The Friday Society?
The creative process for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY was very similar to the process for my writing in general.
It starts with thinking. Normally I get a cool basic idea. In this case it was a team of female Steampunk superheroes. Then I start to problem solve: how many should there be? Who are they? How do they meet? What is the basic plot that drives them? What are the supporting characters? Etc. The more I think, the more comes to me. It's all a bit of a logic exercise, "If they are like this, then this means that. If this is their job, that means that they probably live here. . ." and so on.
I really do just think about it for a good while. If the idea sticks with me, if it gives me butterflies still a week later, I take that as a sign that the idea has staying power. That's the key with writing for me. The act of writing is not glamorous. It's hard work. You aren't always inspired to write. In fact many days you feel a bit like a little kid who doesn't want to get up in the morning: "I don't wanna!!" So you need to have a project that you are completely passionate about. That you are willing to work through the rough patches for. At least I do.
Then comes figuring out the voice. This usually begins by jumping into the deep end and just starting writing. For THE FRIDAY SOCIETY it took a bit more effort than usual coming up with the voice. I started out writing it oldy-timey - a bit like the voice I used in my short story in the anthology CORSETS & CLOCKWORK - but it didn't really suit the light irreverent tone I was going for. Eventually the idea of writing the book in a contemporary voice came to me, and it made SO much sense. After all, the key to Steampunk is that it is anachronistic - a story set in the past but with futuristic technology and attitudes. Well why couldn't the actual act of telling the story be anachronistic too?? (if you want to read a post on the subject of anachronisms in Steampunk and why I chose the voice I did, check out my blog here). Once I had the voice, I could really get going on the story.
Photo: Tanja Tiziana
Now back when I was younger when I wrote just for fun, I realised I was the kind of person who enjoyed starting to write and seeing where the story took me. If I planned something out too much I got bored. I would feel, "Well, I already know what happens, what's the point in me writing it?" But I quickly learned that if I didn't do any planning whatsoever I would paint myself into a corner that I just couldn't get out of. So what I tend to do is a combination of both. I come up with a very basic plan, and then I fill in the blanks in the moment as I write. I also tend to plan in phases. So I'll plan the first fifth of the book, and when I'm coming to the end of that, I'll stop and plan the next fifth. Etc. As an example: with the beginning of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY I decided I wanted three chapters of introductions per girl and then I wanted my girls to meet up at a gala where they would come across . . . something mysterious. Seriously, that was it. Not much to go on, but still enough that I knew where I was going.
I should add at this point that I do tend to have a very basic idea of what the novel will be on the whole. This is part of what I think about during the thinking phase. But again it's very basic. In the case of TFS it was, "I want a Steampunk superhero origins story where my three girls defeat someone intent on destroying London for some reason. Also there will be subplots." :)
As I continue to write my book I, of course, come across bumps in the road and face difficult problem solving. This is always tricky to manage but I have learned that if I just stick with it I can get out to the other side. Sometimes it means moving onto something else or just going for a walk to clear my head. Sometimes it means sitting there and figuring it out one word at a time. And it's kind of amazing the direction your brain can take you. The characters of Hayao and Dr. Mantis were meant to be small one offs, but as I wrote them they just took on a life of their own and became integral to the story. This is why I enjoy not planning every little thing as I write, I love being surprised by my own story.
Now my method is simply mine. It certainly does not work for everyone. The most important thing is for a writer to find what works for him/her and be confident in that technique. So many blogs will tell you absolutes. But here's a secret: whatever works for you, works for you. Try different methods, see what sticks and discard that which doesn't. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't second guess when something is working for you.
Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Unfortunately my advice in not particularly glamorous nor original. It is: Read and Write. Ta da! To elaborate. . . Read. Read a lot. Read every genre and every medium. Read novels, non-fiction, plays, poetry, graphic novels, picture books etc etc and so forth. Everything you read will inform what you write. It will teach you the writing rules, it will teach you how to break those rules. It will teach you what you like, it will teach you what you aren't a fan of.
And then you have to write. You just have to write. A lot. You never really learn until you do. And you never really improve until you do a lot.
Q. Any upcoming events or current projects you'd like to share?
High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future. It’s all a fake. At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated? But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned— Are about him.
Q. What was the writing process like? How long did it take?
Witchlanders was a labour of love. It took me ten years to write—eight years on my own, and two years working through three critique letters with my wonderful agent, Steven Malk of Writers House. Of course, one of the reasons it took me so long was because it was my first novel and I had no idea what I was doing.
I didn’t have an outline—when I started out, I didn’t really know enough about structure to make one—so instead I kept revising and revising until a structure began to emerge. I have to say, I don’t really recommend this method because it takes forever! For the book I’m writing now, I have a detailed outline. I’ve learned my lesson!
Q. How detailed is your outline? Could you please tell us more about your outlining process?
I use the screenwriting guru John Truby’s methods; here’s a picture of the outline for my current work-in-progress.
I’ve written a short synopsis of each scene on individual file cards, which are then organized into rows underneath the plot point they correspond to such as the inciting incident, the opponents’ plan and counter attack and the final battle.
Q. I love how detailed and real your world-building is in Witchlanders. What's your world-building process?
People often ask me about the worldbuilding in Witchlanders because they find the two countries in the book, the Witchlands and the Bitterlands, so intricate and detailed. Because worldbuilding comes naturally to me, it’s difficult for me to articulate how I created these places.
It’s funny; plot is something that I’ve had to learn, and so story structure is something I can talk about. I have a vocabulary for it because to understand it I’ve had to read books and talk to other authors. All I can say about worldbuilding is: It’s important to walk your world. What I mean by that is, it’s important to lie in your bed or sit in your chair imagining every corner of it –the culture, the ecosystem, the religions, the people. I spent a lot of time thinking about places and people that never ended up in my book. Friends and family might think this looks like lazy daydreaming—but we authors know better!
How do you keep track of all these world-building ideas as they come to you?
I haven’t really come up with a way to organize these ideas other than writing long lists, which isn’t very practical. I know many authors create something they call a “world bible” that they use as a reference tool. I’m sure that if I ever write a series I will have to create one of these because there is no way I will be able to keep all my world-building elements straight in my head.
Above: Wattpadd interviews Lena at S&S offices.
Q. If you could go back in time and give your young writer self some advice, what would it be?
I think the young writer I was just had to learn by doing, so I’m not sure what sort of advice would have been helpful. Certainly, every bit of encouragement I received over those ten years was worth its weight in gold.
Writing is a lonely business, so I think if I could go back in time, I’d probably just say: “You can do it. I know it seems like this novel will never be finished, but if you put one word in front of the other, sentence by sentence, chapter by chapter, the miracle will happen. You’ll finish a book.” And if anyone reading this is mired in the morass of their first novel, that’s what I’d say to them, too.
Q. Did you get any rejections when you started submitting your writing? If so, do you have any advice for writers about how to cope with rejections?
Of course I got rejections! When I was looking for an agent, my trick was to send out a batch of five queries and then immediately choose what the next batch of five was going to be. I tried to convince myself that it would actually be a good thing to be rejected because the second batch was even better than the first. Of course, sometimes the rejection just gets you down. I took a break from querying when I knew that a negative response was going to make me too depressed to write.
Q. Would you like to share anything about your current/upcoming projects?
I’m pleased as punch about what I’m working on now. It’s a YA fantasy about the young Brontë siblings and the characters they wrote about in their juvenilia. I can’t say too much about it—I’m afraid even the title is up in the air—but I’m happy to report that it will be published in 2014 by Abrams in the US and HarperCollins in Canada.
Other places you can find out more about Lena and her work:
Today's print issue of The New York Times Sunday Book Review has their list of Notable Children's Books Of 2012. There are six YA books, eleven middle grade books, and eight picture books….and I'M BORED (written by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by me) is included!! I'm about to head out this morning to hunt down a copy of The New York Times in Toronto but first, I wanted to write this post:
It's been a truly extraordinary year for me.
Not only did my very first children's book come out in bookstores, but Simon & Schuster also gave me contracts for two more books - one of which I'm also writing. I am grateful to so many people who have encouraged and supported me in the past as well as during the I'M BORED creation process, but today I'd like to mention one person in particular: Justin Chanda.
Justin had never heard of me when he first approached me at the conference. He didn't know anything about my "author platform" or the fact that I had been focusing on writing up to that point ... it was all about my art. From Justin, when I asked him:
There was a sense of whimsy and definite style. I loved the assorted cast of characters, but I loved your point of view just as much. I remember there was an illustration of a robot who had lost his arm and one of a little girl looking at these tiny monsters. In both instances I got a clear sense of character, a sense of humor, and a sense of style.
Over the years, I've had a wide range of rejection letters from a wide range of children's book publishers…from the bare form letter for my early efforts up to much more personalized "we like her writing but the story's not quite there" or "we love her mss but it doesn't quite fit our list right now". I've been appreciative of all feedback and I can tell by the quality of the rejections that I've been getting much closer…. but they're still rejections. :-)
Justin Chanda was the first children's book editor to believe in me enough to offer me a contract, and I will always be grateful to him and Simon & Schuster Children's. I'M BORED has opened up other opportunities at S&S, with two more picture book contracts. Justin says he'd also be happy to take a look at anything else I've done, including my middle grade and young adult writing (YAY), so I've been working hard on some new projects.
THANK YOU, JUSTIN AND S&S CHILDREN'S, FOR TAKING A CHANCE ON ME.
I'm going to be writing a series of short gratitude posts over the coming months, thanking some of the people in my life as well as those involved with the creation of I'M BORED, but for now... I'm going out to get a print version of The New York Times Sunday Review so I can get ink on my fingers and spend way too much time marvelling at the extraordinary fact that my name is included.
Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day was founded by children's book author Jenny Milchman, whose debut novel COVER OF SNOW comes out from Ballantine in January. More info about Take Your Child To A Bookstore Day:
Monday, December 31, 2012 at 11:37 AM
