King Kong, Cowbirds and Teen Critiques

I'm dipping into my archives for this post tonight. I got caught up today with some traumatic doctors appointments (everything's fine), homework help, meals, general exhaustion and then a family bonding movie of King Kong - the original 1933 version. As my son said, "How long could girls scream back then?" (I will say, for the time period I'm pretty impressed by the special effects and sets.)

But this post, unfortunately, doesn't have much to do with King Kong.

It does have to do with my son's comments, though. You see, I have two bona fide teens living under my roof, and they have some pretty strong opinions about things. I always imagined that having a teen or two on tap would be a fabulous thing for a YA writer like me. There'd always be someone to try out my novels on and get their thoughts, right? Right?

Not so fast

My kids know I spend way too much time living in my head. But it doesn't necessarily mean they want to share the gray matter space with me. They know to repeat themselves several times for requests, or better yet, write it on a sticky note and paste it to my computer screen. They know my eyes may be focused on their faces but I'll really be rehashing some scene from my book. 

Cute Cowbird - Not  (berkley.edu)

Sometimes I wonder if my writing is the cowbird of our family. You know, the egg that's laid in a cute little songbirds nest, only to hatch into a huge, ugly bird that kicks its step-siblings out and hogs all of the parent's time and resources? Maybe it is resentment that causes my kids to turn up their noses when I want to share a part of my 'fabulous' book, but more likely it's just the age.

Teens can be fickle creatures. Hard to please. But, those very things that can drive me bonkers most of the time are some of the best qualities in a YA critiquer. After all, don't we want the cold hard truth if our work will connect with its target audience?  I do. So here are a couple tricks I employ when I want to know what my teens think.

Catch them unawares

The easiest method I've found to turn a teen into an unwitting critiquer is to wait until they're relaxed, but not otherwise engaged in any electronics (I know, it's a rare occasion). Then I start reading out loud. As soon as they roll their eyes, fidget, or otherwise leave mentally or physically, I know I've lost them. More often than once it's happened during the first paragraph. But the few times they've listened for a whole chapter, I knew I was on to something.

Bribery

Yes, I'm not above paying for my teen's critiquing prowess. But, if I'm giving (whether it's screen time, sugar or something else), they have to give a little extra back, too.

One way to get a more in depth critique and still make it easy for them is a simplified version of a critique list. It's in a format any kid would probably recognize. I usually create a bookmark and ask my teen to simply write the 'grade' next to a section they notice a problem with.
  

A – Awesome, amazing, aw yeah – This is good.

B – Bored – Really just not that into this. Too long. When does the action start?

C – Confused – What just happened there? Who did what, now?

D – Dumb – That would never happen. They would never do that. I don’t believe it.

And lastly, I ask them to draw a line where they would have put the story down if they didn’t have to keep reading to get their bribe, er, reward (this might be the most important step because it lets me know when the story really goes off the rails). That’s it.

A warning, though, use your teens sparingly. They won’t want to read the fifteenth reincarnation of the same scene. If you have enough teens around, use a different lot for the first draft and the one you hope is the final draft (don’t be afraid to mortify your kids, younger siblings or neighbors by asking who their friends are - and can you borrow them?). It’s always good to have a fresh set of eyes on your work. 

So there you have it. Having feedback is invaluable, and getting it fairly painlessly from your target audience, even better. I think these methods can work nearly as well on younger kids and spouses, too. What things have you done to get your work critiqued?

~ Susan

Romanticizing the Stalker

The internet is overflowing with articles accusing Twilight and Hush Hush and many other paranormal romances of romanticizing stalkers and abusive relationships. People seem genuinely concerned that a generation of girls is going to seek out unhealthy abusive relationships because Edward watched Bella sleep and removed her engine from her car.

Some of these YA paranormal romances want to have these dark, mysterious, dangerous heroes, but they don’t want to show the consequences. There is some fantasy involved in having a dark, dangerous hero without the actual danger. So these unseemly behaviors get glossed over or even romanticized.

But is this really as big of a deal as those articles on the internet make it to be?

Don’t get me wrong. I understand how serious and frightening being stalked is. I would never want to make light of it, but there are other stories that glorify other horrible behaviors like killing.

The movie the Matrix is one. I loved that movie (the first one, the sequels not so much), but it was extremely violent. Some people have blamed it and other violent movies and video games for being somewhat responsible for very tragic school shootings.

I understand that there is power in stories, that they can inspire and uplift and change minds, but I’m not sure if every story has that power.

Some stories like Twilight and The Matrix are really just for fun. They are not meant to be groundbreaking, world-changing novels. I don’t think the teenaged audiences are as impressionable as others make them out to be. Most people know the difference between reality and make-believe long before they are teenagers, and if they don’t, then there is a much bigger problem there.

I honestly don’t think that the reason someone gets into an abusive relationship can ever be simplified to “I read Twilight as a teenager.”

I don’t know. Am I wrong?

But I do know that I don’t like censorship in any form. Claiming that some novels are dangerous for impressionable teenagers is a slippery slope because it opens up the flood gates to keep some very important and powerful books from teen readers just because some people don’t agree with the world view presented in the story.

I believe we should trust the teen readers and teach them to think deeply and critically about what they read. Let them make up their own minds.

There was no YA section when I was a teen, and when I think about some of the things I read….

For example, when I was fifteen, I was obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera. I listened to the music from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical all the time, went to LA to see the play, and read the original novel by Gaston Leroux. I loved the story, and I still do.

But talk about a stalker.

The Phantom is unquestionably manipulative, abusive, controlling, and a murderer. But he is also isolated, rejected by society and his own mother because of a physical deformity. He is brilliant, a musician, a genius. Cold and callous, and yet deeply wounded. In my opinion, he is one of the most fascinating characters ever.

There is also something deeper in that story than an obsessive, controlling love.

In the book, we come to understand The Phantom, and by sympathizing with a villain, who does unspeakable things, we see that people aren’t born evil. They are twisted by how they are abused by society.

But his tragic past in no way excuses his behavior. He does not win. He does not get the girl. He is only redeemed when he gives up what he wants most. In the end, he learns that if you really, truly love something, you can’t trap, manipulate, or control it; you have to let it go.

I understood this as a teenager, and I don’t like the idea of keeping powerful stories like this from teenagers because it could be interpreted as romanticizing the stalker.

So what do you think?

Do you think that romanticizing the stalker is harmful to teenage girls and boys?

Do you feel that YA authors have a responsibility to present healthy romantic relationships or at least not glorify unhealthy ones?

And how do you really decide what is a healthy relationship?

I’m very curious because I've been fascinated by darker characters like The Phantom, Heathcliff, and Raskolnikov ever since I was in high school.

~MaryAnn

ETA: This post was inspired by this converstaion on Hatrack: http://www.hatrack.com/cgi-bin/ubbwriters/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007142;p=0&r=nfx

First Official Proser Post

I’ve thought a lot about what I should write for the first official blog post. But then something happened that trumped writing about my fears querying, or how I secretly think I’m like Beyonce. Prepare to read about that a little later.

My daughter just turned four, and she is the sweetest, smartest sassy pants you can imagine. She’s also gorgeous. I take a lot of pride saying that she magically came out of my gene pool.

Yesterday, my girl put her hands on her sweet little tummy, frowned, and then sucked in.

She just turned four. FOUR.

Sigh.

I write primarily for teenage girls, and so my main characters usually are unsure of themselves because;

·         You write what you know.

·         Being unsure of yourself is kind of the definition of a teenage girl.

I never thought it would define MY daughter. Who just turned four.

I’m a writer and I’m at a loss for words here. What do I say to her? I’ve told her she was pretty and smart and wonderful every day of her life- somehow that’s not enough.

Sadly, what I want to say to her most of all… I know I can’t . Here, I’ll test it out for you. Tell me what you think.

“Go get your own pain, kid. I’m still using this one.”

Work in progress, I guess.

J

~Sheena