Category Archives: Critical Thinking

July 4, 2010 · 12:23 pm

Friends with Freedom

I once framed a pretty card that read, “A true friend is one who overlooks your broken down gate and admires the flowers in your window.” At first glance, this seems trite, but it makes sense. It does not suggest that the friend doesn’t notice our flaws, or pretends that everything is fine and then goes off to talk about it with the neighbors. A friend recognizes our faults but looks past them to appreciate our good points.

That is how I feel about the United States. Although I am frequently dismayed by decisions made at all levels of government, I live in freedom. I can say and write what I think without fear of arrest (or worse). I can pass through its borders at will, travel anywhere, and live in any neighborhood that I can afford. In an emergency, I can call for the police, firemen or an ambulance and know that help will arrive within minutes. Grocery stores are bursting with food, and potable water flows out of almost every faucet. Dependable electrical current powers my lights and refrigerator, and I heat my home in the winter with the flick of a switch. If I can’t afford it, there are programs that will provide assistance. When I’m dissatisfied with something, I can contact my councilman, congressman, senator and even the president, and if the results are unsatisfactory, I can vote them out of office.

People in the United States do not crouch half-naked on street corners begging for food. Heavily armed soldiers are not a part of daily life, and abandoned orphans don’t sleep in the gutters. Things are not perfect, and no one would deny that there are flaws in the system, but they are outweighed by the positives that make our country what it is.

A friend sees our gate dragging in the grass, but looks past it to appreciate the beauty of our yard. Sometimes, they’ll even try to help fix things.

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June 28, 2010 · 4:54 pm

Where the Boys Are

Ty Roth wrote a blog post yesterday about the lack of YA “boy books” and male authors who write them. I started to write a comment, but it got so long that I’ve turned it into a post.

There was a time when a lot of books for boys were being published. I know this, because when I was young, my big brother’s room was closer than the local library and I was lazy, so I used to raid his bookcase.  I was rewarded with finds like My Side of the Mountain, Gull Number 737, The Mad Scientists Club, and a lot of other good “boy books” that were popular those days.

At school, the books we had to read were also “boy books” (Shane, The Call of the Wild, Johnny Tremain, etc.). When we girls complained, the teachers would say it was because girls would read “boy books” but boys didn’t like “girl books.” I knew this to be true from personal experience, and when the trend continued in high school with A Separate Peace, The Great Gatsby and The Old Man and the Sea, I didn’t think too much about it. The books were good, and if I needed a “girl book” fix, I could just go to the library.

Times have changed. My going-into-sixth-grade son has had to read Caddie Woodlawn, Sarah Plain and Tall, Alice in Wonderland, and a host of other “girl books” at school. Consequently, he has become so turned off by what he perceives as fiction that I’ve had to bribe him with computer time to get him to read it at all. When I take him to the library, there are virtually no good modern “boy books,” and all but the classics have been sold off at library sales, so he’s been borrowing Jules Verne.

I’ve had the gut feeling that if he just read the right book, he would see that reading can be fun as well as informative. After a lot of thought, and one failed attempt with From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (another “girl book”), I have finally hooked him with one of the titles from my brother’s bookcase, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet. He read it on his own, and actually asked me if I would buy the sequel for him.

I suspect that the well-meaning movement to empower girls in the 1980’s and 90’s spawned an inadvertent backlash against boy titles as the girls of my generation became agents, editors and teachers. It’s nice that girls are able to read things in school now that interest them, but the boys should at least be able to find something that they like at the library.

Gull Number 737My Side of the Mountain

The Mad Scientists' Club (Mad Scientist Club)Wonderful Flight To the Mushroom Planet

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June 24, 2010 · 11:16 am

Hold the Pickles, Hold the Lettuce…

Fast food restaurants are famous for doing market research to pinpoint their customers’ needs, but what teen consumers are looking for in a novel is sometimes obscured by assumptions on the part of Young Adult writers.

Most authors know that teenagers like to read books about kids who are a few years older than themselves, and that girls will read “boy books,” but boys don’t usually like to read “girl books” (at least in public). Beyond that, many writers seem to think that if their protagonist is a young adult, the manuscript qualifies as YA.

In fact, there are numerous aspects to consider when penning a developmentally appropriate novel. Teens usually enjoy works in which they can identify with the protagonist, but in situations that are out of the ordinary. They like to see how a character tackles a problem, and then reflect on what they might have done in a similar situation. Coming-of-age stories are always popular, as are stories where teens somehow best the adults, or prove themselves through adversity, or fight and win an underdog cause, or find out that something they’d been led to believe isn’t true. Good vs. evil and the suspense of a character making the “right” choice instead of the “wrong” one seems to hold a particular fascination.

“Young Adult” is currently defined by the American Library Association as ranging in age from 10-25. Many writers informally classify their work as “Young YA” or “Mature YA,” because of the disparity in emotional development within that age group.* Ignoring this aspect of the genre can actually be detrimental to the reader. One of my sisters, a pediatric nurse, recently attended a lecture given by a psychologist who said it is not uncommon for teens to experience intense anxiety and other problems because of reading material that they aren’t emotionally ready for.**

There’s a lot to think about when authoring content for that diverse group, and writers need to make sure that their product is suitable for the target market. Fast food chains are coming under fire for providing what kids want at the expense of what is healthful. No one expects them to serve broccoli, but with a little creativity, they should be able to come up with something nourishing that also satisfies the palate.

*See my previous post, “Considering Asychronous Development in Book Selection.”

**Victoria Mixon just blogged about this topic on June 15th, and it’s worth a read.

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June 18, 2010 · 11:47 pm

Take the Hint

I used to have a boss who felt that the universe gave him messages about his life. He was constantly saying things like, “I’ve run into three people lately who have problems with alcohol. I think that the universe is trying to tell me something.” He would then lay off drinking for a week or two, until the universe told him to do something different.

If I were him, I would think that the universe is trying to tell ME something right now.

My manuscript, Jim and Jack, was originally literary fiction, but thanks to a lot of online advice, I have reluctantly morphed it into something more commercial. Although the story is definitely more streamlined, it is no longer the relaxing summer’s day that it was, and I don’t think that it’s as good in many ways. A few things have improved, such as the action starting earlier, but overall, it sounds just like everybody else’s “voice” these days. This has bothered me so much that I’ve even stopped querying, paralyzed about which version to send if I get another request.

Until this week. My author-hero Ty Roth posted about this very topic. So did literary agent Rachelle Gardner. Victoria Mixon had a superb (and I NEVER use that word) post about young adult literature and how all of the edgy/disturbing YA stuff isn’t healthy for kids, and when I left a comment, she replied with, “Layinda, aim for your star. Forget the nay-sayers. Nobody knows what’s going to sell, only that trends are started by people with the guts to go where no one else is going. “We are the makers of manners, Kate.”—Henry V”

Now, I don’t think that the universe tells anybody anything, but these posts have resonated with me, and my mind is made up. I am going back to the original version, and I will let the professionals decide whether my manuscript is any good or not. From what I understand, there are always rewrites anyway. 

If you missed any of these excellent posts, here are the links:

Ty Roth:
 http://tyroth.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/the-secret-to-my-success/

Rachelle Gardner:
 http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/06/write-from-your-heart-or-follow-trends.html

Victoria Mixon: http://www.victoriamixon.com/advice/2010/06/14/honestly-or-sensationally-addressing-ya-taboos/comment-page-1/#comment-143

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June 11, 2010 · 10:38 pm

Topping the Charts

I found myself idly wondering this morning what the most popular book of all time was. I did a Google search, and Soyouwanna.com listed the ten most popular, so I checked it out. They freely admit that their stats are only on books with available sales figures, but their list still provides a general idea of what folks have preferred. Here it is:*

10.In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?In His Steps: “What Would Jesus Do?”
Author: Rev. Charles Monroe Sheldon
Copies sold: 28,500,000

9. Go to "Valley of the Dolls" page Valley of the Dolls
Author: Jacqueline Susann
Copies sold: 30,000,000

8. Go to "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care: 8th Edition" page The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care
Author: Dr. Benjamin Spock
Copies sold: 39,200,000

7. Thumbnail for World Almanac and... The World Almanac
Author: Who knows?
Copies sold: 40,000,000

6. Go to "A Message to Garcia: And Other Essential Writings on Success" page A Message to Garcia
Author: Elbert Hubbard
Copies sold: 40-50,000,000

5. Go to "McGuffey's Eclectic Readers/Boxed" page The McGuffey Readers
Author: William Holmes McGuffey
Copies sold: 60,000,000

4. Go to "Guinness World Records 2010: Thousands of new records in The Book of the Decade!" page The Guinness Book of Records
Author: Who knows?
Copies sold: 81,000,000

3. The American spelling book: containing the rudiments of the English language for the use of schools in the United StatesAmerican Spelling Book
Author: Noah Webster
Copies sold: 100,000,000

2. Go to "Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung" page Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung
Author: Mao Tse-tung
Copies sold: 800,000,000

1. The Holy Bible King James Version: King James VersionThe Bible
Author: God
Copies sold: 6,000,000,000

What I find interesting is that only one of the books would be categorized as fiction.** Reference books, religious works, “how to” manuals and dogma all outrank the imagination for supplying a good read. That Valley of the Dolls must be some book!

*To see the complete annotation, go to their website.

**For those of you who — like me — have never heard of A Message to Garcia, it is a motivational true story.

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June 4, 2010 · 1:59 pm

Que(ry) Sera, Sera.

Getting rejected is no fun. It’s part of the writing game, though, and so instead of complaining about it, it’s a good time to take stock.

If you are lucky enough to get a personalized rejection, you at least have some feedback to consider. Whether the agent didn’t connect with your work, or if they’re already repping a similar manuscript, you can take that for what it’s worth and continue on.

A form letter is a different animal (and don’t think that they don’t happen with partials/fulls). You have no idea why your work has been rejected, what might be wrong with it, or how to fix it. You can guess, but should you go to the trouble of rewriting, or just assume that you haven’t hit the right agent yet?

Critique partners and beta readers can be helpful, to an extent, but in the end, you are still the one who decides whether their suggestions  are good ones or not. If you are getting the same comments over and over, like, “it doesn’t flow well,” or, “your main character is unlikable,” it’s time to pay attention and do some editing. Otherwise, just keep an open mind, and keep researching agents/sending query letters.

Sooner or later, you’ll hit the jackpot, or you’ll write something better, or you’ll crawl into a literary hole and decide that maybe writing wasn’t the life for you, anyway.

However it works out, it will.

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January 18, 2010 · 5:12 pm

What Makes a Classic?

I was reading on an agent’s blog today about the fact that there are, as we all know, trends in publishing. Right now, it seems that prologues and adverbs are out. So is reality (for YA, anyway). So are boy books. So is literary fiction, unless it’s really great.

Most of the time, the books that ride the waves of these trends wash up on the literary shore and are taken away by the next tide. We can all name some of those. A few, however, rest like like shells on a beach, picked up by the discerning eye and treasured. We can all name some of those, as well.

What sets these books apart? I happen to be a member of AQ Connect, and there is always dismay when a prizewinning novelist seems to break all the rules. Adverbs abound, there is a 30-page prologue, the author tells instead of showing. Why is it that people who try to follow the rules have such a hard time making it, while people who break them can be stars?

Agents write about how they cannot exactly say why a book has “it,” just that they know it when they see it. Charles Dickens had “it,” as did Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Harper Lee. Many of their works still enjoy a shelf at the bookstore, although ironically, there is plenty of discussion online as to whether those authors would even be able to get an agent today, let alone get published.

Many agents are not shy to admit that they frequently turn down work that they love, because they don’t know for certain that they could get a publisher to buy it, but in the same breath, they say that you shouldn’t write for the market. I, myself, loosely follow the advice of Madelyn L’Engle: “You have to write the book that wants to be written.” (And worry about getting published later.) I’ll let you know how that goes.

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January 11, 2010 · 11:27 am

Considering Asynchronous Development in Book Selection

Asynchronous Development: Mental and physical maturation that occurs at different rates, the mental capacity (in the case of Gifted/Talented children) distinctly outpacing the chronological/emotional age. An example of this would be a fifth grader doing tenth grade reading. 

When I was in second grade, my family was packing everything we owned into boxes because we were moving to a different state. One morning, wearing my yellow pajamas with the feet, I went into my father’s study to ask him a question. He wasn’t there, but I knew he’d be back and sat down to wait. Although most of his books had already been packed, there were still a few stacked up on the table next to me. Bored, I picked one up. It was interestingly small, with a blue linen cover. I opened it and proceeded to read a story about a man who stayed overnight in a haunted house to prove that ghosts were a myth. After watching a child’s footprint form in the dust and enduring other equally terrifying incidents, he realized that ghosts weren’t a myth at all.

So did I! I understood every word perfectly, but was it appropriate for a second grader to be reading Edgar Allen Poe?

Similarly, should a nine-year-old be required to read a disturbing story involving a boy who bleeds to death after falling on an axe? Many gifted/talented teachers commonly select books for the classroom that were never intended to be read by children of the ages they teach, in an effort to provide a challenging read with appropriately complex vocabulary. Emotional age is rarely considered in the selection process. As a result, students are regularly exposed to content that is developmentally inappropriate and/or psychologically disturbing. 

Where the Red Fern Grows is a classic, and if an eighth grader picks it up, he’ll have a thought provoking read. A gifted fourth grader, however, is more likely to have nightmares and develop a mysterious aversion to axes.

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