This is not a hero interview

No, it’s not. It was going to be, but I’m still transcribing it. I’ll try to get it up within a few days.

In the meantime, I just read a partial adult fantasy manuscript for critique that wins the award in my lifetime for the “As you know, Bob” info dump. Which is making me think about world-building, and why many of us seem to have the impulse to create worlds almost separately from the impulse to tell stories. (Or are far better at the former than the latter.)

Is it the creative impulse rechanneled? A God complex? An intellectual exercise? Some Freudian impulse to control a world when we can’t control the one around us? Or is it just fun?

In some fantasies, it seems that worlds and histories are created and almost go begging for a character we care about who happens to be living inside it. Such a world seems to be built from the outside in, with all the structure going up but the characters sometimes missing. And in others, the character is the focus and what world-building we get is only so much as the character bounces off of — built from the inside out. I wonder if those two ends of the spectrum reflect different sorts of creators, different ways of thinking, maybe even different goals.

And in our electronic, internet age, I’m kind of surprised that there aren’t more outlets just for the world-building part. Why don’t we see universes online that you can enter and role-play in merely for the chance to learn about the world? There are plenty of people who would volunteer to create them, I think. Is it more fun to create a world than to experience someone else’s?

What do you think?

— Joni, who has a hard time imagining building a world from the outside in, instead of the inside out

Overheard in NY

A few random tidbits that relate to spec fic and were heard from speakers at the SCBWI conference in New York and other anonymous professionals with whom I met:

- The paranormal rage is (finally) subsiding.

- Dystopias are still going strong, with plenty of submissions still coming in.

- High-concept reigns. If you can’t describe it very briefly and make it sound hooky, it’s going to be a tough sell.

- From an agent: “Editors keep saying they want middle-grade, but then they won’t buy it. I’m not going to believe them any more.”

- From an art director: Cover art is trending away from faces.

- Next trend, perhaps? Historicals. Flapper steampunk. Or contemporary “normal” YA about “normal” teens.

Since “normal” doesn’t sound like much fun to us here at The Spec, I’ll take that as a call to battle. Let’s give them some good abnormal stories!

— Joni, who is still catching up on the lost sleep

 

Interview with a Hero: Professor Watermelon (part 2)

More of our interview with writer, librarian, and writing teacher Chadwick Gillenwater, a.k.a.Professor Watermelon. (Read part 1 here.)

Spec: Who is Professor Watermelon?
CG: Professor Watermelon is a character I created to teach creative writing to children. Many children feel stifled by the rules of writing (grammar, spelling, style, etc.). From the get-go I want my students to see that I am ready to have fun with writing. My character shows that I am not taking writing too seriously. I am not there to cross out and scribble over their writing with red ink. I am there to show them how writing is an outlet for creative self expression — just like drawing, painting, and building things with popsicle sticks.

Spec: Does Professor Watermelon have any supernatural abilities or unusual traits?
CG: Of course! He is in close connection with many magical people and creatures from this world and beyond. During every creative writing class, we receive a letter and artifact from one of these friends. We call this the MuseBox. These artifacts often become the jumping off point for many stories the students create. For example, we may receive a letter and a jar of honey from Herbert the Fly. Even though Herbert is a fly, he makes the tastiest honey on this planet. Herbert may ask the creative writers if their character can do something that is extraordinary to his or her species.

Professor Watermelon is also connected to the people and creatures that live inside the moon. There is a special bakery inside the moon called the Lunar Spooner. This is where Moonbean the Clown bakes Imagination Pies. Creative writers often get these as snacks. They magically cure writer’s block!

Spec: We might need a few of those for a giveaway! What’s the most rewarding thing about working with young writers?

CG: I have the opportunity to inspire a child to find the joy in writing every single day. I get to show them that even adults have the ability to act silly. And I love that I get to use my own imagination.

Spec: When teaching teachers how to teach writing, what are your top tips for doing it right?

CG: If you’re a writer, you know it’s important to write with your writer’s hat on and edit with your editor’s hat on. If you try to wear both at the same time, you will have a tendency not to believe in your writing. Your editor’s voice will keep your imagination from flowing, and you will most likely not finish the project.

If you’re a writing teacher, please separate writing time from editing time – maybe move them to completely separate days. Also, if you have not found the joy in writing yourself, how can you inspire a child to find that joy? It works the same for reading. I have parents ask me all the time how they can motivate their child to read at home. I ask them, “Do you read at home?” They often say that they are not much of a reader. BINGO! We must model the behavior if we want to teach it.

Spec: What writing project are you working on now?

CG: I’m working on a middle grade novel in which Professor Watermelon is one of the characters. The setting is Seattle; Lillyville, TN; and the moon! The protagonist is an eleven-year-old boy who lives in a cemetery with his pet crow. That’s all I’m saying right now, heehee.

Good luck with that moon story, and thanks for stopping by, Chadwick! Please give our regards to the Professor!

Interview with a Hero: Professor Watermelon (part 1)

Librarians, booksellers, and teachers who spread the love of reading are among the heroes of specfic writers and fans, and in 2011, The Spectacle is pleased to bring you interviews with a few of these special folks.

Our first hero is Chadwick Gillenwater — how’s that for a superhero name? But he’s got an alter ego, too: Professor Watermelon. (Read on for more.) In addition to being a writer himself, Chadwick is a school librarian, creative writing teacher, and instructor of writing teachers. Welcome, Chadwick!

Spec: What age readers are you serving as a librarian, and what fantasy titles are hot in your library now?

CG: My library serves kindergarten through 8th grade. My students love the Fablehaven series and The Lightning Thief series. Harry Potter remains popular, along with the Eragon books.

Spec: How much interest do your readers show in sci-fi vs. fantasy?

CG: To be honest, I think my library lacks in regards to middle-grade science fiction. I would be interested in recommendations from some of your readers in the comments.

Most of my students enjoy realistic fiction and magic realism. That could be because I seem to push those genres, since that is what I like, wink wink.

Spec: As a librarian, what do you wish you had more of?

CG: TIME! I have a hard time keeping up with my reading. There are so many books on my “to read” list! I also need more parents volunteers to shelve books. Actually, I am pretty happy, really!

Spec: As a writer, your work often involves fantasy elements — Why? What do you like about the genre?

CG: I like this genre for the same reasons I like to teach it. I seem to have a better outlet for my wild imagination. My favorite genre is magic realism. I’m able to keep my story grounded in the “real” world but give it the magical twist to keep it different and interesting. This is also my favorite genre to read.

Spec: Why do you think fantasy is a good or common entry point for young authors?
CG: Children love to create new worlds when they write. They like to draw the maps of these worlds and the different kinds of people and creatures that live there. With fantasy, children are allowed to create their own rules. This is important in a child’s life, since their “real” world is ruled by adults.

I often ask students to use their “Third Eye” when writing. With their Third Eye, a chicken egg can become larger than a house. Maybe the egg becomes a planet or a mode of transportation. Can you imagine a chicken egg spaceship? What is steering this ship? Where are they going? What do they want more than anything in the universe? They can find all of this information by using their Third Eye!

Spec: What’s been one of your favorite reads lately?
CG: I’m reading SLOB by Ellen Potter right now. It’s realistic fiction written through the perspective of an overweight middle-school boy. I find myself rolling with laughter but turning the page to something that simply makes me want to cry.

Spec: What’s the most rewarding thing about working with young readers?

CG: I am very grateful for the opportunity to inspire children to discover their love of reading. This love will last them their whole life. I remember the adults that inspired me, and I’m happy to pay it back!

Tomorrow: More from Chadwick’s alter ego, Professor Watermelon, about teaching writing, and teaching teachers how to teach writing.

Are you a con rat?

Hey, I just learned about WisCon, “The World’s Leading Feminist Science Fiction Convention.” Apparently it is held in Madison, WI, on Memorial Day weekend.

I’m not likely to get to Wisconsin then, and this is a pretty specific con niche, with the feminist angle and all, but I think it’d be fun to hear about this — or for that matter, your experiences at other sci-fi conventions. (I’ve only ever been to one and it was well before I was published, so I think I’d have a different perspective if I was thinking more about books and less about noticing costumes.) Any of you out there going, or have been before?

And have you been to other cons? What was your experience there?

Is writing narcissistic?

While the holidays’ spirit of compassion and giving still lingers, I thought it might be interesting to talk about a point that came up this year in the blogosphere’s discussion of NaNoWriMo: whether many of the participants are being narcissistic by churning out words that perhaps no one wants to or ever will read.

I posed the question to The Spec’s bloggers, and here’s what they said:

Linda Joy: Writing can be a way of expressing oneself, which can increase personal growth and increase confidence. Years ago I had a clinical depression, and writing was a method I used to open a window of light and climb out of the darkness. Never judge anyone else’s writing…until it gets published.

Greg: Writing a book isn’t any more narcissistic than riding a bicycle around the block.  The narcissistic part is trying to get your book published–that’s more like riding a bicycle around the block, naked, while shouting, “Hey, everybody, look what I can do!”  To paraphrase Robert Heinlein, the writing process is natural and healthy as long as you do it in private and wash your hands afterward.

Parker: I agree that novel-writing can be a narcissistic undertaking for some. Many people have it in mind to write a novel someday not for the joy of creating a story but for the glow of accomplishment or recognition. NaNo may serve those individuals, but it also serves writers who have a true passion for stories and language but just need the encouragement to finish a draft.

PJ: This isn’t a NaNo issue; it’s about publishing (or the global economy) overall. Everyone already has a cell phone, but people buy new ones all the time. I bet the old ones would work fine, but people still want something more. They want the iPhone, and not the old, crappy model, but the new 4G one that has an app to warm your toilet seat for you. Do you need your toilet seat warmed? It doesn’t matter. It’s just the newest and coolest thing to have. Are cell phone designers narcissistic because they design their product to offer this toilet warming app? No. (And I know this because I used to be one.) What we were trying to do with each new generation of microchips and phones was meet what the market wanted.

So why are books any different? Older novels totally serve as reading material. We could have stopped publishing new books in 1980 and no one would ever run out of reading material. But the new stuff meets new trends and offers new bells and whistles. It tries to hook in ways never before thought of. And many times it succeeds.

Chris: Reading a novel can offer an escape, but writing one can help you explore yourself. That kind of narcissism is all right, even valuable — so long as you don’t expect people to read something just because you wrote it.  You have a right to write, but not a right to be read.If you want to be read, you have a responsibility to produce something that people want to read. If you don’t have the time, energy, or skill to do that, then enjoy writing for yourself and don’t get caught up in the idea that publication has to be the final result. I think writing becomes narcissistic only when we start believing that people should be fascinated by our words simply because they are ours.

What do you think? Would the time, money, and energy we spend on stories be better used to save the world? Or when can writing be altruistic?

— Joni, who admits that writing can feel both like a lovely indulgence and a way to step beyond her own little self

Edith wins the giveaway!

Edith wins our final 2010 giveaway, so Edith, send your mailing address to me — you can use the Contact Me email link on my website. Thanks to all for playing (and reading!)

— Joni, who says good riddance to 2010 and here’s to 2011!

Last giveaway of the year

This giveaway is done and the winner is Edith; thanks for playing!

This time of year makes me want to get rid of stuff, and I’ve got three brand-new books to send to someone who’d like them. (I’ve flipped briefly through one and never cracked the other two, and I’m acknowledging now that I never will.) Leave a comment if you’re interested, and I’ll draw a name (assuming more than one person wants them!) for the recipient.

• The Wand in the Word: Conversations with Writers of Fantasy by Leonard S. Marcus
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books (third edition) by Harold Underdown
• A 2010 CWIM (admittedly, getting dated, but it does include free online access and a lot of what’s in it will still be valid.)

It’s a package deal, but the winner is free to get rid of any of the 3 he or she doesn’t want!

— Joni, whose TBR pile on the floor is as large as her actual bookshelf

Missions to Mars

Here’s an interesting article about scientists proposing one-way Mars trips. I was most struck by this point: They argue that it would be little different from early settlers to North America, who left Europe with little expectation of return.

As I mentioned in a previous post — sign me up. Especially if, as discussed in the article, the Marstronauts might logically be folks near the ends of their lives anyway. But most Spectacle readers weren’t willing to come with me, ha!

The settler analogy got me thinking, though. Historically, most settlers were leaving the old for the new in the hope of something better, not for something known to be, well, worse. But not all settlers in history have been voluntary, either. Australia was a penal colony, and not the only one. There have been sci-fi stories about penal colonies on other planets, asteriods, etc. What if we gave lifers a choice? Or no choice at all?

One the one hand, we might not want a whole planet full of criminals, malcontents, or social misfits.

On the other, Australia turned out all right.

Or is an escape hatch to another planet a bad idea… because it will give us less motivation to protect the planet we have?

— Joni, who is on a space kick lately, probably because she wants to revise her sci-fi YA and has been too busy with other things instead

From the Archives: 200-page limit

While we’re taking issue (or I am, at least) with the suggestions in this Library Journal open letter from a librarian, I thought it’d be interesting to talk about her issue with book length: “Unless you’re publishing Madame Bovary or The Brothers Karamazov, 200 pages is plenty.”

I’ll leave aside the issue that even the newest of the books she cites as the ideal length is 12 years old and most of them are 40 or more. And I’m all for a variety of book lengths for a variety of readers and reader skill levels (not to mention age groups). I’m a little more troubled by the idea that she lists this suggestion under the subhead, “Better editing.”

Personally, I don’t think editing has much to do with it. I’ve read any number of adult books recently that made me think, “Boy, this could be about 25% shorter and we’d never know the difference.” I have NEVER read a published middle-grade or YA book and thought that. I may not have liked it, and I may have seen things I thought were editorial lapses, but I’ve never thought a published book for young readers was bloated or rambling. Generally, I think “our” pacing is excellent and there is rarely a lick of padding — there’s just plenty of story packed between the pages.

And what about SFF/fantasy books in particular, which lately are more likely to be long books than contemporary fiction? One could argue (I’m not sure I’m prepared to) that the fact that a story takes place in another time, place, or universe suggests that the author might need a few more pages to establish those settings or inform the reader about things that can simply be taken for granted in a contemporary book. Does it? Or are fantasy authors, and readers, simply more likely to indulge or wallow in their worlds and peoples? And if so, is that perfectly okay, as long as we have, as it were, “consenting readers”?

(I’ve certainly heard book people talk about kids who wouldn’t look twice at a book if it wasn’t 300 pages because they’ve become used to lengthy books, love them, and know anything shorter would be over too soon. I’ve also had loads of readers who simply assume that if there is one book, there WILL be a series, and when does the next one come out?? Even my shortest novel for the youngest readers is 217 pages, and some of that length is because the publisher felt it would be too skinny to appeal without a pretty decent font size and some illos. And my second-shortest novel, which is 240 pages (well over that 200 limit), is the only one that had otherwise glowing reviews say, in short, “I wished it was longer and/or X was developed more.”)

I will admit that when selecting which book to read next, a thick one will often go lower in my TBR pile because I know it will take me longer to complete. But I’m not convinced young readers think the same way, I’m almost certain it’s not for the same reason if they do, and I wouldn’t want that particular book to be thinner or ever let it affect a purchase decision — I’m just prioritizing my to-do list to be able to cross more things off sooner.

What do you think? Have HP and Redwall and a few titles like that given authors word diarrhea? Or are there elements of spec fic particularly that beg for or require greater length?

– Joni, who probably couldn’t write a novel under 200 pages to save her life.

Originally published 7/23/2009