WOW Wednesday: Cambria Dillon on Loving Your Writer’s Butt

by Martina Boone

This WOW Wednesday is from our very own Cam–YAY!–who just landed an agent and finished the first round of revisions on her fabulous manuscript. She is represented by represented by Vickie Motter at Andrea Hurst Literary Management. In addition to finding her here, you can catch her on her own blog. And yeah, she really is this humble, sweet, and gracious. How lucky are we to have her here with us?

Loving Your Writer’s Butt

by Cambria Dillon

Shortly after I signed with my agent, Martina invited me to write a WOW Wednesday post. My first thought was – DUDE! I’m a nobody! What kind of wisdom or inspiration do you think I have to give?!? I can’t even bake brownies without destroying them! And then I promptly read every WOW Wednesday post on the blog and spent about fifteen minutes shaking my head because there were legitimate authors like Melissa de la Cruz and E. Lockhart who actually had wisdom to impart. Like, real wisdom.

I was fully prepared to tell her she had the wrong girl. That my path to getting an agent wasn’t anything special and who wants to read about my path anyway? But then I recalled something from R.L. Stine’s keynote speech at SCBWI NY this past January. He said (and I’m summarizing here) that when he first started out, he made sure to say yes to everything. At the time, he was writing for a humor magazine and his editor had asked him to try writing something scary. Even though he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off, he said yes. Why? Because he loved writing and instead of focusing on the huge challenge in front of him, he focused on the fact that he loved writing in all its many shapes and sizes.

And now look at him.

So yeah, I told Martina – ABSOLUTELY! SIGN ME UP!

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized something…

Yes, I have an agent, but…nothing has changed. I don’t feel like a different person. I don’t drink champagne for breakfast or have a gold-foiled keyboard or anything silly like that. I’m still a “nobody” and still can’t bake to save my life. The only thing I have now is a new nugget of experience I can refer to and an updated Twitter bio. Sure, I just turned in my first round of revisions to my agent and am currently waiting to see if she likes the changes or is going to print them out for her cat to use as kitty litter. But really…

NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

I was writing, revising, and making sure cats didn’t pee on my work prior to getting an agent. And I suspect I’ll always be doing those things because when you’re a writer, you don’t do it to become an overnight success story. You don’t do it to make butt-loads of money. You don’t do it for the cool factor of having a business card that says AUTHOR on it. And you certainly don’t do it thinking your husband will automatically empty the dishwasher.

You write because you love the art of stringing words together and making them mean something. To me, there’s nothing more breath catching than a beautifully written passage that I feel and think about for days.

If you don’t love those kinds of feelings, then maybe you should find something else to do because writing is HARD. It makes you CRAZY. It gives you carpal tunnel and eyestrain and Flat Butt-in-Chair Syndrome. It forces you to question yourself and your capabilities over and over and over. And a lot of times, it can break you.

But if you do love it…?

Then welcome to my world, baby! I happen to adore eye strain and tight wrists and jittery reflexes and saggy butts. *wink* I adore those unglamorous side effects because when I finish a WIP, a revision, a paragraph, or a kick-ass sentence – I’m truly HAPPY and that kind of excitement makes me feel successful. It’s a feeling I can never fully explain to my husband because he’s not a writer and doesn’t love it to the extent I do.

I guess what I’m saying is: Writing is HARD. Yeah, I already said that but it bears repeating because it’s true! Writing is demanding and time-consuming and sometimes I wonder why anyone would willingly choose this because it requires so much focus and independent supervision. But we don’t choose writing. Writing chooses us. And so we grit our teeth and keep pushing because life is so much sweeter with it, than without.

So focus on that.

Don’t focus on the singular steps of signing with an agent or signing a publishing contract or signing hundreds of books for fans one day. They’re great goals to have, but none of those steps are guaranteed. The only guaranteed thing you can control in this business is your love and dedication to your craft.

My advice? Focus on what you love about writing and why you love it and work hard to always improve it, and you’ll have the kind of long-term success you need, instead of the kind you think you want.

That’s where I am right now and I tell ya – me and my flat butt couldn’t be happier!

Here’s to LOVIN’ IT!

Cam

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Mar 2, 2011

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: WOW Wednesday

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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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