KaeLyn Rich, author of GIRLS RESIST!, on the dream of becoming a capital “W” Writer

by Jocelyn Rish

We’re delighted to have KaeLyn Rich with us to share more about her debut novel, GIRLS RESIST!: A GUIDE TO ACTIVISM, LEADERSHIP, AND STARTING A REVOLUTION.

KaeLyn, what was your inspiration for writing GIRLS RESIST!?

I’ve been involved in student activism and young adult activism since I was, myself, a student and young adult. It started from this place of just being sad and mad about the unfairness in the world we live in. I grew up with parents who were union members and educators and I saw them taking action in our community from an early age. As I got older and more passionate about my activism, I read up on community organizing theory and tactics. There are several excellent classic and contemporary books on the subject out there. However, there aren’t a lot of books written by women or written for girls. I’m inspired by the teen girl and young girl activists who have existed, literally, throughout history, at the front of our movements. I’m inspired by the youth organizers of this generation who led #BlackLivesMatter and the National Walkout across the country. This book is about supporting those movements with info young activists need to take their work to the next level, the information I wish someone had put in my hands when I was a young woman.

How long did you work on GIRLS RESIST!?

I need to start by saying this is my first published book, ever. My editor and agent assure me this process for writing a book is unusual. The total length of time from the moment of conception around the idea for the book to holding it in my hands was less than one year. I wrote the whole book cover-to-cover in about three months.

What did this book teach you about writing or about yourself?

I set out to write a handbook, a typical guidebook that is written without a narrative voice. About halfway through the writing process, while going over the manuscript with my editor and a friend I asked to be a reader, we realized that the book needed to have “me” in. Organizing is personal for me and feminism is personal for me and trying to write as though it wasn’t just didn’t work for this book. This book is a conversation between me and other activists, between me as a woman and teen girls as young women. Like the 1960’s feminist saying goes, “The personal is political” and I learned that about my writing process through this book.

What do you hope readers will take away from GIRLS RESIST?

I hope readers open the book and find the tools they need to take the next step in their activism, to ignite groundbreaking, historic revolutions as well as intimate, vital moments of resistance. I hope readers feel seen and heard in these pages. I hope they can feel my love for them and their activist work through my words. I hope they take away the really specific strategies and tactics and skills that are the foundation of Girls Resist! as well as a renewed sense of empowerment to lead us all into a better future.

How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?

My whole life, I thought I would write a book one day. Like, literally since I was four-years-old, I wanted to be an author. I went to college for creative writing (poetry and fiction). However, my life path bent and turned in another direction and I’d mostly decided that writing was a hobby and a skillset for me, not a job. I dabbled in writing for work, stuff like newsletter content and fundraising letters and I even penned a local sexual health column for a couple years. I never planned to go back to that dream of becoming a capital “W” Writer, though. In 2014, on a whim, I applied for a freelance position as a staff writer for Autostraddle, a prominent queer blog. I started blogging for Autostraddle and it’s actually through a column on community organizing that I was writing for the blog that Quirk Books (my publisher) found me. When I was approached about the Girls Resist! project, I was completely surprised. Now that I’ve made it through my first book, that part of me that longs to write has been reignited. I’m already thinking about what my next book could be about and even flirting with the idea of getting back into writing fiction! All that to say, I wouldn’t say my road was hard so much as twisty-turny!

What’s your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?

I get my best writing done when I’m out of the house, usually at a coffee shop. I listen to ambient mood music like Explosions in the Sky if I need inspiration or to energetic, beat-heavy music like rap, R&B, punk, or pop if I’m jamming along nicely.

What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?

Just do the thing. I don’t mean quit your day job (necessarily). But if you want to write, write. Start a blog. Pitch to a blog. Write your novel. Go to the open mic. Create the YouTube video. Send the query. Since I’ve been writing professionally, I’ve realized that most writers are like me–regular people who choose to write. A lot of them are also freelancers with a day job, like me, and there’s nothing less cool about that! The path to authorship, for me, was all about allowing myself to choose writing without worrying too much about whether I’d ever “make it” or not.

What are you working on now?

Lots of rumbly jumbly ideas that I’m trying to flesh out into real proposals if I’m honest with ya’!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution
by KaeLyn Rich
Paperback
Quirk Books
Released 8/7/2018

An activism handbook for teen girls ready to fight for change, social justice, and equality.

Take on the world and make some serious change with this handbook to everything activism, social justice, and resistance. With in-depth guides to everything from picking a cause, planning a protest, and raising money to running dispute-free meetings, promoting awareness on social media, and being an effective ally, Girls Resist! will show you how to go from “mad as heck about the way the world is going” to “effective leader who gets stuff done.” Veteran feminist organizer KaeLyn Rich shares tons of expertise that’ll inspire you as much as it teaches you the ropes. Plus, quotes and tips from fellow teen girl activists show how they stood up for change in their communities. Grab this handbook to crush inequality, start a revolution, and resist!

Purchase Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution at Amazon
Purchase Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution at IndieBound
View Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution on Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KaeLyn Rich is a queer feminist, a direct action organizer, a nonprofit leader, a word wrangler, and a sexuality educator. Her community organizing experience dates back to stuffing folders for her parents’ union meetings around the dining room table. She’s an adoptee immigrant from South Korea, a comfort food foodie, and a persistent devotee of the Oxford comma. She lives in Rochester, NY with her spouse, a baby T. rex, a xenophobic cat, and a rascally rabbit.

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Have you had a chance to read GIRLS RESIST!: A GUIDE TO ACTIVISM, LEADERSHIP, AND STARTING A REVOLUTION yet? Are you getting out there and doing the thing? Are you choosing to write without worrying too much about if you’ll make it? Share your thoughts about the interview in the comments!

Happy Reading,

Jocelyn, Halli, Martina, Erin, Susan, Shelly, Kelly, Laura, Emily, and Lori Ann

Jocelyn Rish

Jocelyn Rish is a writer and filmmaker who loves researching weird and wonderful animals and sharing what she learns. Her debut was BATTLE OF THE BUTTS, about ten animals that do weird things with their butts. Her latest book is BATTLE OF THE BRAINS, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection about ten animals with mind-blowing brain abilities. When she’s not writing, she tutors kids to help them discover the magic of reading. Jocelyn has won numerous awards for her short stories, screenplays, films, and novels and lives in South Carolina with her adorable dog. Find out more at www.jocelynrish.com.

Post @ Jocelyn Rish and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Aug 11, 2018

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: YA Author Interviews

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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