#writeoncon

For the second year in a row I am participating in WriteOnCon, the online writing conference.

It runs from the 8-10th February and doesn’t cost much ($5-20,) and has a great host of content scheduled, from live Q and A with agents, to blog posts about the writing process.

Woot! Won @WriteOnCon Critique from @MindeeArnett

Have you heard of WriteOnCon? It is a writers’ conference for kidlit authors that anyone can attend because it is both online and so reasonably priced. What an opportunity for those of us with crazy lives! The next WriteOnCon will be will be February 8-10, 2019. Sign up today!

This week I found out I won a query letter + 25 page critique from YA author Mindee Arnett in the December Raffle. What…

If you haven’t heard, there’s a really awesome online writing conference going on right now called WriteOnCon. I’m a contributor again this year, with a podcast of story structure, and I’m also critiquing submission materials. If you’d like me to take a look at your query, let me know. Sign up here. 

The really coolest thing about this conference though, at least for me, is that it’s the very same conference where I first came up the initial premise for Onyx & Ivory. Flash back to WriteOnCon 2012. It was my first time as a contributing author, and my topic was on world building. In order to write it effectively I decided to generate a new world as part of the exercise. That world ended up being the very same world (and main character) in Onyx & Ivory. Pretty cool, huh? I think so.

So cool, in fact, that I’ve decided to present that very same guest post here. This is the original post. I’ve made no changes. Kate was originally named Jane, as you will see. Enjoy!

World Building: Let Your Characters Be Your Guide 

In my experience, writers tend to fall into one of two categories when it comes to world building: The Tolkien Types and Everybody Else. The Tolkien types are those brilliant people who will create entire mythologies and even languages for their fictional worlds. For them, the world comes first and the characters and story second. World building like this is a marvelous feat and one I greatly admire, but I’m afraid that if you are a Tolkien type, you might as well stop reading now. This post just isn’t for you.  

For everybody else, our stories start with a character and/or situation and the world building develops out of it. If you want to get technical, this is the “bottom-up” strategy as described here [link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-down_and_bottom-up_design ]. While this is a perfectly acceptable approach to world building, it does involve a couple of pitfalls. The first major issue is that it can lead to inconsistencies and plot holes, the latter being especially true when we’re talking about the fantasy and sci-fi genres. The second issue is that the world building tends to be underdeveloped.

And really, both of these problems make sense for us bottom-uppers, right? I mean, we’re far more interested in the characters populating our story than the world it takes place in (while the opposite may be true for the Tolkien Types). No wonder our world building is weak. Also, the very idea of creating an entire world is daunting. It’s so BIG, so OUT THERE; it’s the forest we can never see.  I, for one, barely understand the world I live in, let alone the one I’m creating.

Fortunately, one effective solution for avoiding the world building blues of plot holes and underdevelopment is to focus even more on what we love best about the story—the characters populating the world. Crazy, you say? Nope, not at all. The characters—their back stories and especially their motivations—hold all the answers.

To demonstrate, I’m going to take you through some prewriting activities for a YA fantasy novel I would someday like to write. The following headers and questions will function as a world building worksheet.

Concept

What is the story about in its most general terms?

Right now, I picture this story as being Shadow and Bone meets the Pony Express—so high fantasy/steampunk-ish with an emphasis on horses and riding.

General Setting

What kind of world does this story place in? (Medieval Europe? Preindustrial? Futuristic? Try to be specific here, but don’t be afraid to change and modify as the story becomes clearer) 

This story takes place in a world home to both humans and a race of vicious creatures known as the Mal’niveus. The Mal’niveus live in a vast network of tunnels beneath the ground, but they come out to the surface at night to hunt. In order to survive, the human population has built huge walled cities and barricaded the tunnels beneath the cities to keep the Mal’niveus out. As a result, the political structure of this world is similar to the city-state structure of Ancient Greece (something I’ll need to research later).

While many of the cities are self-sustaining, trade does exist between them, with goods being shipped via rivers or in large caravans, which I imagine might be protected by mages or sorcerers. For faster travel, the city-states rely on an independent guild known as The Riders (surely, I will come up with a more specific name later—even names play a part in world building). The Riders function the same as the Pony Express did in the American Old West (again something to research and draw on later).

Characters

Who is the main character and what is his/her primary motivation at the beginning of the novel?

·      16-year-old Jane lives on a small farm inside one of the city-states. Her primary motivation at the beginning is to become a Rider like her big brother, John. Riders are required to provide their own mount. But Jane’s horse is small and will have a hard time competing for one of the slots.

From these few brief sentences, the world is already taking shape. Although I don’t state it directly, there are ideas in here about class, social structure, and a number of other world building elements.  

How much does Jane know about the bigger world she lives in?

·      Although she knows many things about the world, it’s primarily secondhand. She has experienced very little of the world beyond the farm. She has never seen a Mal’niveus before, and she knows only the very basics about the government that rules the city she lives in, as typical of a teenager.

Jane’s lack of experience and true knowledge about the Riders and the world at large is going to make it easy for me to include world building details naturally and without contrivance. There is so much that she is going to experience for the first time, same as the reader. Since she will most likely be the POV character, I should be able to convey much of the world through her eyes and reactions.

To break this down, consider that world building information is usually passed onto the reader in one of three ways:

1.     Description—what the world looks like, what the character sees, hears, smells, etc.

2.     Straight exposition—“this is how the world works” kind of statements. And yes, they will often be considered “telling” instead of “showing.”

3.     The POV Character’s interactions with the world and other characters, including dialogue and plot developments.

I will use all three types when writing this story. But when and how much will depend on my POV character, in this case, Jane. Description, naturally, should be used in every scene, although when Jane goes somewhere brand new for the first time, there will be a heavier emphasis on the description. When she’s at home, in her familiar world, the description will be lighter.

I will use straight exposition as sparingly as possible, but I will use it. Mostly, I will rely on it to convey the more unique ideas about this world, those which Jane already knows but which the reader doesn’t. For example, Jane already knows about the city-state structure of her world, the Mal’niveus, and the Riders, but these will be completely new to the reader. For some of these, I may use straightforward exposition, such as these example sentences: 

Jane had never seen a Mal’niveus before, but she knew they lived deep underground, only emerging at night to hunt—deer, elk, humans, they didn’t care. Any fresh meat would do.

While it is possible that I could show all of these elements through a combination of #1 and #3, I will want to be careful about placing too much burden on the reader to figure things out for themselves. Sometimes it is okay and appropriate to give the readers “just the facts, ma’am.” If you leave too much up to the reader to guess at, they might grow frustrated with the story and put it down.  

Primarily, however, I will rely on the POV character’s interactions with the world and with other characters to pass on world building information. Dialogue, of course, will be a key component. The trick here is to identify which characters know what and to use them effectively.

Identify supporting characters and their motivations, including forces of antagonism.

·      So far, the only supporting character I’ve identified is big brother John. And I don’t know his motivation in the story yet, other than to make sure his little sister doesn’t get hurt. But he does know a lot of about becoming a Rider. He will likely pass this information on to Jane.

·      The Mal’niveus are a force of antagonism, and they have already provided a main structural element to the world building by creating the necessity for the walled city-states.

I haven’t yet identified the main villain, but once I do I will need to explore his/her motivation extensively. What does the bad guy want? Why does he want it? How does he plan on getting it? Answers to these questions should both inform and be informed by the world at large. Think about it—only the perfect storm conditions of post World War I Germany could’ve produced a Hitler. The more we explore the villain’s motivation for his/her badness, the more these conditions will become apparent. Once they are apparent, put them into the story as much as you can and as much as makes sense.

did you know there’s a super cool writing conference that’s entirely online and super affordable??? 

well, next weekend is WriteOnCon 2018, and there’s still a few spots left if you want to get the scoop from today’s middle grade and young adult authors, agents, and editors! 

lots of HELLA good agents will be giving tips, and lots of crazy talented authors too, like Sara Raasch, Mary Pearson, and Gail Carson Levine. (I’m presenting too, but I don’t qualify myself on that level haha. My subject is on writing/publishing young adult while you’re a young adult.)

So, I’ve been helping plan, set up, and coordinate the fabulous online kidlit conference: WriteOnCon!

We’ve been doing an Indiegogo campaign to help cover website costs, etc., and there’s just about a week left. SO GET IT WHILE YA CAN!

What is WriteOnCon?

WriteOnCon is a three-day online children’s book conference from February 2-February 4, 2017 for writers and illustrators of picture books, middle grade, young adult, and even new adult. It was founded in 2010 and is now run by a new team of writers (including meee!) who are eager to hearken back to the awesomeness that they remember so fondly from being attendees over the years, while also bringing exciting new elements to the mix.

WriteOnCon features blogs, vlogs, pitch sessions, Q&As, critique forums, and more — there’s something for every writer/illustrator, in every stage of their career. From the comfort of your home, a library, a coffee shop — any place with an internet connection — you can meet agents and editors, connect with potential critique partners, and generally soak up a whole bunch of knowledge!

For further information, please see the F.A.Q. page or contact us.

What’s the Schedule Look Like?

The actual schedule is still under construction, but we have just released the first version of our speakers’ topics. None of the exact wording is 100% finalized, and the events themselves will be sorted into a proper schedule soon, but I thought you might like a glimpse of what’s in store.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

Live Pitch Sessions: Erica Bauman, Heather Howland (with other Entangled editors), Natalie Lakosil

Panel Discussing Diversity and Writing the “Other”: Amanda Sun, Dhonielle Clayton, Elsie Chapman, Heidi Heilig, Riley Redgate, Sangu Mandanna

Forming Writing Communities and Partnerships: Christina June and Katy Upperman

Writing Across Multiple Age Categories: Cynthea Liu

Hosting a Book Event at an Indie Bookstore: Evelyn Skye

Worldbuilding (Planning vs. Actual): Mindee Arnett

Standing Out from Similar Stories with: Anita Mumm

And don’t even get me started on all the fabulous, live Q&As! Because they are awesome.

To see the full list, check out our Schedule page.

Why Should I join the Indiegogo Campaign Right Now, This Very Minute?

Because so many reasons, including but not limited:

You get the early-bird special rate! Which means you’ll pay less than you will come February.

You have access to all of our fabulous perks, including a plethora of critiques and such from awesome industry professionals. These won’t be available any other time during the conference.

You get entered into our Indiegogo Raffle if you contribute $5 or more to the campaign.

I will love you. Forever.

Yesterday, as a part of WriteOnCon (an annual online children's writing conference), I was in a group vlog with the Class of 2K12, a group of 21 authors with debut YA and MG books coming out in 2012. I have to admit I look pretty stiff and awkward in this vlog BUT, if you're a writer--especially one looking to get published--I think you should check it out for the wise/inspiring words of my classmates. And try to take my word for it that I'm less awkward in real life (maybe by a smidgen, but still. Less awkward). You can watch the vlog here. Plus, if you leave a comment, you can win a tote bag of some 2K12 swag Which... ...segues nicely to my next four letter word. Swag! I have the final version of my stickers to share with you.

But here are my queries on Write on Con.

CROSSING BRIELLE - YA Urban Fantasy