The YA Games: Scene-Proof that Novel and Live to Tell About It

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Spotlight Course: Writing Young Adult Fiction

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Article: The YA Games: Scene-Proof that Novel and Live to Tell About It

Spotlight Course: Writing Young Adult Fiction

Greetings!

Do you want to write a bestselling series like The Hunger Games? Then you need to learn The YA Games! (The secrets of writing young adult fiction, that is.)

Now is the perfect time to work on your YA novel because we have a great teacher to help you get started. Bonnie Hearn Hill is a successful writer of a young adult series as well as six international thrillers, and she has mentored numerous successful authors. She's offering a brand new workshop that will help you deepen your characters, develop your plot, tighten your pace, and avoid the mistakes most young adult authors make.

Bonnie Hearn Hill's class, Writing Young Adult Fiction starts Wednesday, March 21st and is limited to 10 students. Enrollment includes line-editing of up to 50 pages for each class member. You'll leave with a submission packet and sample chapters and synopsis. Reserve your space now because her last class sold out quickly!

In the article below, Bonnie reveals how you can keep those young and not-so-young readers turning pages. She also includes a checklist to help you write powerful scenes.

Finally, we have some other great classes this month, including Social Networking for Writers and Get Paid to Write: Become a Freelance Writer (both on March 16), and Let Me Tell You a Story: Personal Essays for Beginners (March 20). Please see our full list of classes below.

Happy writing!

Marcia & Angela

Marcia & Angela
Classroom Managers
WOW! Classes & Workshops

classroom@wow-womenonwriting.com

THE YA GAMES

Scene-proof that novel and live to tell about it

By Bonnie Hearn Hill

Writing young adult fiction can feel as if you've been dropped down as a tribute in the middle of The Hunger Games. How much time can you spend on character description and backstory? How can you keep those young and not-so-young readers turning pages?

You refuse to dumb-down your story, and that's smart. Yet, like Katniss Everdeen, you need to cover a lot of ground in a short time. That means you need to know how to write a scene. Here's a checklist to help you do that--scene by scene.

1. Who is the point-of-view character for this scene?

In commercial fiction, almost every scene should be told through a POV character, although you can have more than one POV character in a book. One reason for this focusing is so that we feel the character struggle with a scene goal. The struggle takes place through action and dialogue with little internalization/exposition.

2. What does your protagonist want in the story?

This is the story goal. It is your external plot, and it is as simple as: Will Jane find the killer? Or will Katniss survive The Hunger Games? Is it not something like: Will Jane (or Katniss) find true love? That is internal conflict and may even be a subplot.

3. What does your POV character want in this scene; what is his/her scene goal?

Without a clear goal, you will not have a scene. You will have an event. "I want to give the reader some insight into my character, " may be the author's scene goal, but it is certain to lead you to an event, not a scene. This is not about what you want but what your character wants.

4. What's at stake? What will happen if the character doesn't reach the desired scene goal?

A good way to up the tension in a scene is to up the stakes. The Hunger Games is an excellent example of how to do that.

6. What time is the scene taking place and what month?

This will determine how the characters dress, and it will help you uncover additional details to make your scene more realistic.

7. Who is your antagonist in the scene?

Most scenes should have a clear antagonist, even if several characters are present. If you find yourself suffering from the Robinson Crusoe Syndrome of one character alone, thinking, you are probably heading straight for a dreaded event, not a scene. You may even be heading for the dreaded he-hes or she-shes, where you have too many sentences beginning with She verb/she verb.

8. What does the antagonist want in this scene?

You don't want conflict for the sake of conflict. The antagonist must have a goal, just as the protagonist does. The antagonist doesn't always have to be the bad guy either. He or she might care deeply for the protagonist, as Katniss does for Peeta Mellark. They simply have different scene goals; conflict comes from that. I want A, and you want B. Not, I want A, and you're a jerk.

9. What is the emotional state of the protagonist?

You determine this by what happened to the protagonist in the last scene in which he/she appeared. This affects her/his emotional state and how s/he views everything in the scene, including the setting. It is the emotional filter of the scene.

10. What does the protagonist do in order to achieve his/her scene goal?

Win or lose, the protagonist must "protag." Avoid wimpy characters who witness but don't drive the scene.

11. Have you incorporated both action and dialogue in the scene?

You can't have only talking heads or only narrative. Action and dialogue must be balanced. In order to make the scene more immediate to the reader, try not to paraphrase within the scene.

12. How is the scene resolved?

Your scene isn't over until the resolution. Jack Bickham and his teacher, Dwight Swain, reduced the resolution to four possibilities.

(a) YES, the character achieves scene goal. That's kind of like Cinderella going to the ball on page 1, but sometimes getting what s/he wants will worsen the character's situation.

(b) NO, character does not achieve scene goal. This will determine what character does next.

(d) NO, AND FURTHERMORE. Character doesn't achieve goal and worsens situation.

Each of these resolutions will give you strong scene endings that keep the reader turning pages.

Katniss had her bow and arrows. When you face down the elusive scene, use this as your checklist. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Writing Young Adult Fiction

Instructor: Bonnie Hearn Hill

Workshop Length: 6 Weeks
Price: $180
Start Date: March 21, 2012
Limit 10 Students

Course Description: Young adult fiction is more than vampires, although they're fine too. In a highly competitive market, you need more than even a good plot. The instructor is a successful writer of young adult as well as six international thrillers, and she has mentored numerous successful authors. In this workshop, she will help you deepen your characters, develop your plot, tighten your pace, and avoid the mistakes most young adult authors make. In addition to class work and critiques, the instructor will line-edit up to 50 pages for each class member. You'll leave with a submission packet of sample chapters and synopsis.

Visit the Classroom Page for a complete listing and what you'll be learning week by week.

About the Instructor: Author, teacher and public speaker Bonnie Hill worked as a newspaper editor for 22 years, a job that, along with her natural nosiness, increased her interest in contemporary culture. Her novel, Intern wascalled "a page-turner" by Publishers Weekly. Killer Body, a thriller about our weight-obsessed culture, was a Cosmopolitan magazine "pick." She also wrote three newspaper thrillers featuring hearing-impaired reporter Geri LaRue for MIRA Books, the young adult Star Crossed series, and most recently, Ghost Island, a paranormal love story. Her publication credits include short stories, nonfiction books and articles.

Bonnie leads a bonded and successfulwriting workshop in her hometown and is community correspondent for books for a national television affiliate. She is especially proud of the number of published writers she has mentored.

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