Dear Tyler,

So I heard a rumor today.  Is it true that you told your teacher that real authors don’t use story webs or outlines or plan their writing?  That real authors just write whatever comes into their heads and if they need to outline or do any prep work, they’re not real writers?

Hmm.

Your teacher dropped me a note to ask if I might be able to make you reconsider.  She’s a friend of mine and knows that I’ve written eight books for kids — three that are out now and five that will be published in 2010 and 2011.  And she has a pretty good idea what “real writing” looks like.

I told her I’d share some photos tonight, because I thought you might like to see this.

This is some of the pre-writing I’ve done for the book I’m writing right now. It’s a middle grade mystery called CAPTURE THE FLAG, and I’m finished with my draft, but I’ll be revising for a while now, trying to make it better. What you’re looking at in the photo includes:

• A timeline showing where all the characters are throughout the story & what happens when (top left)
• Page two of the timeline (top middle)
• A list of things I needed to research (top right)
• A character brainstorming chart with notes on the three kids’ personalities, interests, families, etc. (middle left)
• A story web showing how the central mystery relates to the clues, villains, setting, etc. (middle right)
• A plot diagram that I did to make sure the story gets more exciting as it goes along, right up to the climax (bottom left)
• A chapter by chapter outline of characters, action, settings, plot threads, and theme connections (bottom center)
• A chart listing secondary characters hanging around the airport where the story is set & their stories

And then there’s this…

It’s my revision to-do list, with jobs for each chapter.  I’m on Chapter 13 right now.

So do I do all this stuff for EVERY novel I write?  Nope. But I use a lot of it with each book. 

And do I ALWAYS outline and plan before I write?  Well, your teacher might not like this, but no.  Sometimes I just plunge in and write for a little while.  That kind of free-writing can help you get good ideas, but it’s also scattered and unorganized and hard for readers to follow, so even if I start a book by free-writing, I usually don’t make it all the way through.  Once I have an idea where the story is going, I stop and…. you guessed it… make an outline, a road map that can get me to the end.

Having practice with a lot of different kinds of brainstorming, story mapping, and outlining helps me make sure I have the skills I need to write whatever I want to write. It’s like having a big toolbox.  You might not need the hammer for every single project, but you’d sure be lost without it, and if you have one, you can pull it out whenever you need it.

So give the outline a try, okay?  Real writers do use the tools your teacher is talking about, and we use them all the time.

I hope your fantasy story turns out beautifully.

All the best,

~Kate Messner

P.S. I am sorry about this post.  I used to hate it when my teachers were right about things like this…

There was much cheering in the Messner house this morning, once we finally figured out how to get the live feed of the ALA Youth Media Awards announcements from Boston.  So happy for all of the winners, but particularly some friends whose books we loved…

Tanya Lee Stone’s brave and brilliant ALMOST ASTRONAUTS won the Sibert Medal.  If you haven’t already read this story of the "Mercury 13" women who secretly went through astronaut testing before NASA was ready to consider women in space, you are missing an amazing story. And if you’re a teacher, know that Tanya does an incredible job with school visits; she was our visiting author last year, and the kids were fascinated by the story behind this book.

Rebecca Stead’s WHEN YOU REACH ME won the Newbery Medal, and my eight-year-old shouted "YES!" so loudly she woke up her brother. WYRM is one of those books that is just so, so special you want to hug it.  I picked up a copy at last summer’s ALA conference, read it, wrote a blog recommendation, and immediately emailed Rebecca to see if she’d be my school’s visiting author for the 2009-2010 school year.  She said yes, so in March, we’ll have our first-ever visit from a Newbery Medal author.  I believe that she may also be making a stop at Flying Pig Books, so if you’re a Vermonter, be sure to check the Flying Pig Events page for the official announcement so you don’t miss it!

Time to get some writing done, because if this morning’s feast of great books wasn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is.

There’s some discussion swirling around the title for my next middle grade novel, about a figure skater from a small-town maple farm who earns a scholarship to train with the elite in Lake Placid.  The original title is SUGAR ON SNOW, which I have always liked, but I’m also open-minded, since some folks at the publisher think it would be better if the title had a clearer connection to skating. So we’re brainstorming.

The other title that’s come up that I like is SUGAR AND ICE. (Thanks eluper and literaticat!)

So may I ask your opinion?  Which one do you like better? Which title would make you more likely to pick up a book with a skater on the cover?

SUGAR ON SNOW

or

SUGAR AND ICE

…or something else??  Would love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks!

I’ll be at the ALA Midwinter conference in Boston this weekend, not doing anything official or author-ish, other than ogling all the upcoming books in the exhibit hall.  In fact, the whole family’s going, which brings me to the following offer:

If your upcoming book is likely to be on display at ALA this weekend and you’d like a photo of it, just leave a comment below with your title & publisher.  I’m making an exhibit hall scavenger hunt for my eight-year-old daughter, who will happily hunt down your title and snap a shot of it with my iPhone to share via Twitter or here on the blog when we get home.  (We will also probably jump up and down in excitement a bit when we find your book, and then lavish the ARC with oohs and ahhs, so really…it will be just like you being there. Only you won’t have to eat a droopy twelve-dollar convention center salad for lunch.)

And if you ARE going to be at ALA, I hope our paths will cross. Jo Knowles is organizing a LiveJournal meet-up that I’ll be at if schedules go as planned.  You can read the details on Jo’s blog here.

As an author, it’s easy to get caught up in who loved your book and who didn’t, and to worry (especially at this time of year) when your book is or isn’t part of the discussions about notable lists and awards and things like that.  I got a letter in the mail a couple weeks ago that I have set aside. I know I’ll want to read it over and over again, because it puts the whole issue in perspective.

It’s not the kind of letter you might expect to be an author’s favorite. It was part of a packet of follow-up letters from a Vermont classroom I visited this fall, the kind that are neatly written and edited for spelling and packaged in a tidy envelope. I read every one of those letters, and I appreciate and keep them all.  But Patrick’s stands out.

It’s a lovely, friendly letter.  He thanks me for coming to visit.  Then he writes about my presentation, how much he enjoyed hearing about my research and how books come to have the covers they have. The next paragraph says:

I am sorry, but I didn’t really like your new book, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.  I like books with a lot of action, and I felt there wasn’t enough in The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.  I think you could make it more exciting by adding sectionals and have Gianna win by a centimeter or something like that.  It’s just not my type of book. But if it was, I would have thought it was a great one.

~Patrick

I love this letter.  I love that Patrick was honest, and I love that his teacher let him tell the truth.  And I love the way this friendly note, in Patrick’s voice, reminds me that not all books are for all people. And that’s okay. We can still be friends.

Even though sharing the news about someone who didn’t like your book is a little unconventional, I wanted to pass along Patrick’s thoughts as a gift to my writer friends.  The next time you get a rejection or an especially critical review, remember that not all stories connect with all readers.  And that’s okay.  Then imagine the rejection or review written on lined paper in number two pencil, with Patrick’s words tacked onto the end.

It’s just not my type of book. But if it was, I would have thought it was a great one.

P.S. to Patrick…  Thanks.  And also…there is an airport chase scene in my novel-in-progress that you are absolutely going to love.

Just one true friend… That’s all Amelia E. Rye’s grandfather says she needs, and when Fancy Nelson comes to town, Amelia knows that it’s true. Fancy is the first black person Amelia’s ever seen, and she seems to have everything that Amelia lacks…courage and no-holds-barred confidence…and unconditional love from her family. With Fancy beside her, the world looks a little different to Amelia, a little brighter, and a little braver.

This is a fantastic, fantastic upper middle grade…more Let me just say for the record that I predict next year at this time, when we’re all guessing about the 2011 book awards, this title comes up in the conversation quite a bit.  I’ll also say, in the interest of full disclosure, that I know and like the author a whole lot.  Bonnie Shimko is a warm, funny, kind person in addition to being a seriously talented writer. This is her third novel for kids and teens, and while I liked the other two a lot…THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF AMELIA E. RYE has absolutely won my heart.

Just one true friend… That’s all Amelia E. Rye’s grandfather says she needs, and when Fancy Nelson comes to town, Amelia knows that it’s true. Fancy is the first black kid Amelia’s ever seen, and she seems to have everything that Amelia lacks…courage, no-holds-barred confidence, and unconditional love from her family. With Fancy beside her, the world looks a little different to Amelia, a little brighter, and a little braver.

This is a fantastic, fantastic upper middle grade novel – great for ages 10 and up – and really, it’s one of those titles that adult book clubs should pick up, too. The characterization is as close to perfect as I’ve seen in a novel for kids, vivid and rich and never stereotypical, and the writing is just brilliant — laugh-out-loud funny one moment and heartbreaking the next. I’m so thankful to have spent some time in Amelia’s world and can’t wait for April so I can share her with my students. This is a really special book.

(Reviewed from an ARC that I was lucky enough to pick up at NCTE… and due out from FSG in April 2010)