WOW Wednesday: Rebekah Purdy on the Writer’s Epic Star Wars Journey

by Martina Boone

Please welcome today’s guest blogger, Rebekah Purdy! Rebekah works full time for the court system and–in her free time (Um, six kids, hello? What free time?) writes YA stories. Pretty much any genre within the YA realm is game for her, but her favorites are fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, thrillers, light sci-fi, and some time travel. She is represented by Denise Barone of the Barone Literary Agency. Catch her on her blog, or on Twitter.

The Writer’s Epic “Star Wars” Journey

It started a long time ago. In a galaxy far, far away…

Oh. Right. That was Star Wars. Although, there are some definite similarities between my journey to snagging the elusive agent and Luke Skywalker’s (yeah, my total nerdiness is showing—LOL).

In all seriousness, it took me seven years and eight manuscripts before I landed my fabulous agent (Denise Barone) in May. Needless to say, there have been a lot of “OMG, is this really happening” moments. I’m not sure if the shock will ever wear off (smiles).

Okay, now for the epic journey portion of the post. My “voyage” really started seven years ago, when I sent my first finished MS out into the world. With stars in my eyes, I dreamed of book deals, big advances, and seeing my book on the shelves. Guess what? I got requests for fulls. I just knew they’d want to sign me. Um—yeah. Totally didn’t happen that way. The rejections started rolling in.

Of course, I was devastated. I cried a few tears. And I wrote another story. Same process again. I sent the story out. I got requests. I got excited. And well, I got more rejections. What the heck was wrong with me/my writing? Doubt settled in. Then I started to write another book.

For five years, I went through this crazy cycle. Write story. Self-edit. Query. Get requests. Wham! Rejection. Let me tell you, each rejection was like the Dark Side of the Force (had to bring the Star Wars back in) trying to smother me. So, I decided I needed to do something different. This time, I wrote a story, entered contests, and signed up to do a writer’s boot camp through Romance Divas. The feedback I got turned out to be phenomenal. For three months, a mentor helped me work through issues in my story. She pointed out the areas I needed to focus on, but also made sure I knew the things going for me.

After the boot camp, I realized I had to find a critique group. A critique group offered me a chance to sub for one of their members who was gone for the summer. Best experience ever. These ladies gave it to me straight. Sometimes, the feedback was hard to take. But in my gut, I knew they were right. So I finished another story, this time I sent it out and got more requests. And although, it ended in rejection, I got actual feedback from agents. They took the time to let me know why I narrowly missed snagging them. This for me was like finding the hidden plans to the Death Star. Now, I had the target in sight and knew how to destroy it.

At the end of summer, I parted ways with this critique group and six months later found a permanent one. This became my pivotal moment. With ten people in the group, each one had specific/different strengths. And it was here, that my stories finally got perfected. This whole time, my missing ingredient had been “feedback”. Because let’s face it, we miss stuff when we edit for ourselves. Other people can take a look at our work and be able to pinpoint the things we overlook because we’re too involved with the story.

So that brings us to MS # 8, year seven. I started querying my story the last week of March. Right off the bat, I started getting the full requests. But I’d learned by now, not to get my hopes up. Then at the end of April/beginning of May, I came across the name of a new agent. I thought, “Wow, she reps all the genres I write.” So I sent along my query/1st 30 pages. That was May 4th. The next morning, I checked my email to find a note from Denise. She said she loved my premise and voice and wondered if I’d send along the full MS. I sent it out to her about 9:45 am. At 2:45 pm, I got another email from her telling me she loved the story, and wanted to offer me representation. She gave me revision notes and she was SO SO SO nice. At this point other agents still had partials/fulls so I had to wait to give her a definitive answer until the next week.

The waiting, by far, the hardest part (LOL). On May 13th after much consideration/back and forth I signed with Denise Barone. A moment seven years in the making. I’m proof that perseverance pays off. No matter what happened, I never gave up. I kept writing. If you want it bad enough, it will happen.

And now, for the Star Wars journey comparison.

Luke Skywalker: Wanted an adventure. He dreamed of piloting ships, traveling to different galaxies.

Me: I wanted to be a writer. I dreamed of landing an agent, getting published, and sharing my stories with others. My own kind of adventure.

Luke: Decided to go in search of Princess Leia and save her. He fought against the Dark Side, aided the rebellion, and learned how to use the Force.

Me: I decided to go in search of my dreams. I fought against my own Dark Side (rejections, years of writing, and querying). Along the way, I learned how to perfect my writing (or better said my own kind of Force).

Luke: No matter what he was up against, his friends always had his back. Princess Leia, Han Solo, Obi Wan Kenobi, Chewbacca, R2 D2, C3PO, they were in the thick of it with him.

Me: I’ve got my fabulous critique group (both old members and new members) who are my Princess Leia, Hans, Chewie (no, I’m not saying you guys are hairy—LOL). They help me do battle with my story. To get it perfect.

Luke: Had to find Yoda in order to take the next step in his training/journey.

Me: I had to find my own Yoda. My agent. Who will help me take the next steps in my journey. So I leave you with this. A quote from Yoda. “No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.”

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: Jun 15, 2011

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Craft of Writing | Inspiration for Writers | Literary Agents | Query Letters | 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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