"How Did I Get Here?"

Tonight I had that writing workshop that I signed up for, dropped out of, and then signed up for again. It was most definitely a learning process.

First of all, we were all given all of the pieces to read over beforehand. Not all of us got all of the pieces- I only got seven out of the ten. But I noticed a certain trend in the pieces I did recieve: they were all either short stories or prose poetry and they were all thoughtful and deep and dramatic. Lord knows what everyone thought when they opened up my dialogue-driven, snarky YA piece.

I'm not saying this in a self-deprecating way. I was confident in what I had submitted. But it was so radically different from anyone else's that it stuck out glaringly, and I still don't know if that was a good or bad thing; no one seemed to know how to react. Throughout the workshop, I was listening to other pieces being read and thinking, "How did I get here?"

The workshop itself was pretty awesome. We were put in this conference room in the castle (which used to be the owner's smoking room back in the late 1800s) and the thick wooden doors blocked out every sound. We could whisper and hear each other. It was a very cool and relaxing environment.

The host of the workshop is an academic librarian here at my school and is also a published writer (of short stories, I believe.) I've seen her around, but we've never really met, and I expected her to be either really mean or too shy to even really speak. But instead she was this quietly lively, fun person who gave everyone great feedback.

I had expected to see some people I knew, but there was only one person I had met there; most of the participants were graduate students, which was a little intimidating. But they all turned out to be very nice, too.

I was the last to go- I think she went in the order in which she had recieved our pieces, and due to the rehearsal debacle, I submitted mine six days late. Again, it was very weird because, after all of the flowy, deep prose poetry, my excerpt was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over you. It was more marked than one night in Play & Screenwriting when we present our monologues; the girl before me had jut finished weeping as a dying soldier and then I jumped in with a piece of fast-paced, ridiculous excuses.

Overall, though, the piece was well-recieved. People were pretty complimentary of it and they also gave me some fantastic suggestions- some of which I've already taken. I'm really glad I participated; it was awesome to be sitting in a room of people who are just as dedicated to this as I am. I hope I can do something like that again :)


(Also, I'm now officially a creative writing minor at school!)

Writer on Campus!

Tonight, I went to an awesome talk through the Writers Return to Campus program at my university. The YA author Frankie Mallis spoke tonight about the publishing business, the process of getting an agent, networking, and a few other things. I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and took pages of notes! It was inspirational to see someone from my own school doing so well! Frankie, if you're reading this, thanks for coming!


In other news, I'm sorry about being so lax with posting lately. I've been super busy with the start of rehearsals for my next play and continuing rehearsals for Alice. But still, I don't want to be slacking, considering that I'll be doing both shows during NaNoWriMo- which is only two weeks away! Ahhh!

Why I Write YA

There are times in my writing process when I wonder why I write what I write. Why do I tend toward young adult fiction when there are so many other choices? Certainly, I explore different genres within YA- mystery, comedy, drama-and set them in a myriad of different time periods. But why don’t I write adult fiction or children’s books?


The answer, I suppose, is that this is what I like to read. For those of you that don’t know, I am technically out of the “young adult” reading category, age-wise. I’ve been twenty for over two months now. But even though I do read books from the “grown-up” section of the library, and have for many years, I always gravitate back toward good ol’ YA.


There are a few reasons why I believe this happens. The first is that I still feel like I’m about fourteen. Not only do I look like I’m that age, but I’m sort of a late bloomer, I guess, in many areas of life. The most grown-up experiences I’ve had have been in the theatrical world- good and bad. This is also probably why I enjoy playing the roles I am generally cast in- the slightly awkward teen; it feels like me. I am also still in school, so I’m still going through a lot of the stuff the characters in the books are. (Drama does not disappear at the collegiate level, believe me. It just means that it can happen ALL DAY, in many different buildings, and not just within a six-hour time block.) Reason #3 is that the books are just good.


The sad thing is that it sometimes seems that the general public does not share my opinion on this. YA, they think, is lower-level reading, meant for those in-between ages who aren’t at the reading level of adult books yet. But this is definitely not the case. Just like with any other category of reading, YA has its share of not-so-great books, but it has more than its share of absolutely wonderful books. At the moment, my favorite YA authors are Libba Bray and Maureen Johnson. Both exceptionally smart, funny women and both incredibly talented authors who have chosen to grace their skills on us YA readers. Their books tell teenagers and those who are not yet teens that they don’t have to wait to be an adult to have cool/funny/thrilling moments in their lives. Their books- and all YA authors’- are empowering to kids who may otherwise think that they can’t do anything because they’re too young.


When I turned eighteen, I questioned whether I was too old to keep going into the YA section of bookstores. I asked the same question when I turned twenty. But the answer lay in the books I gravitated toward when I was sad, happy, stressed, or just wanted a good read- young adult. Are you ever too old for stories you love, stories you can relate to? The answer, I believe, is no.


As for writing YA, it’s almost the same case. I can relate to younger characters. Perhaps when I feel older than a teenager, I’ll be able to write from the perspective of characters that are over eighteen. But right now, I feel connected to my young characters and what they’re going through. In addition, should I ever publish, I want to do for my readers what the authors before me have done for me- empower, inspire, and awe.


(Speaking of YA that empowers, inspires, and awes, last night I finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and it absolutely blew me away!)