The Live Journal of Sarah Johnson

Typically my writing flows, but today I had mindcramps.

So--

• I stared at my computer screen.
• Pulled up my file and read what I’ve written.
• Opened up another, earlier file, trying to reach the voice of this character.
• Went for a 3 mile jog by the ocean, then the lake. I wondered how and why a small cottage appeared in the middle of the downtown lake and considered possible intended symbolisms.
• Resisted temptation (mostly) to read LJ and blueboards—this will be my reward for writing this scene.
• Sent email--for research purposes of course--and sent another email venting about my mindcramps.
• Read file. Looked at word count (zero real words so far for the day) and page count for what I need to turn in (11 pages so far out of my estimated 18.)
• Checked email—received partial information that answered my question about Brazilian phrases. (I am writing in English, but will use some Brazilian slang.)
• Ate chocolate—I assume chocolate helps the creative process.
• Created a playlist for this scene, using Brazilian music—I’ll be able to use it in the future.
• Moved upstairs and sat in the sunshine. Hurray. There was sunshine today.
• Wrote one word.
• Liked the word and continued writing—this time I wrote complete sentences. Kids arrived home from school. I checked my word count—not too bad: two decent (I hope) pages.

I finished the scene—after playing with my younger kids, walking with them the few blocks to the lake to see the partially submerged house, falling asleep with my computer on my lap (I’m still a a little jetlagged), prepping dinner, and attending the opening of an art exhibit of a friend.

I ended up with over 2000 words and  about 8 pages. Wow. I wasn't sure I could write today. I usually don't count words or pages. I just write.

This was a stressful scene to write. It includes the inciting incident and a tough situation.

 I’m going to workshop these page at my Vermont College residency—therefore my mindcramps.  That, plus dealing with multiple pov—I’m writing a different pov each day, and I’m learning to switch from one pov to another from one day to the next. I’m used to having more time to change between different voices.

Tomorrow I’ll read it and make sure that what I wrote made sense.

I am posting a book manuscript trailer today.
 
kathys_shadow  and I made it a week ago. We did it for fun and so I could learn the basic of imovie. She discusses (or will discuss soon) the making of this trailer on her LJ. She wrote the script. I used Logic Express to compose the music and to create the right balance in the soundtrack. We wanted to take a different approach to the book trailer than we've seen and include some of the words, or the voice of the story. We also wanted to make a trailer that can also be used as a podcast.

I am very nervous about sharing this. I am focusing on our international move and my MFA and my WIP, waiting to query agents until--until what? Until I feel a little more ready, I guess, and until life settles down again, maybe even waiting until I approach the end of my MFA program at Vermont College.

The trailer for Crossings:





I think I need to close my eyes to post this one.
I will try to leave it up and not delete it.

Okay. Here goes.

CLNE was overwhelming. Here are a few thoughts that I enjoyed from the remaining presenters. Of course--these are what they said that caused me to reflect. This is not necessarily the main point of their lectures.

Susan Cooper spoke about the circular novel.
She says there are two options for the reader when they finish a story that they don't want to end:
Read again and again.
Or the reader treats the end as infinite possibilities and thinks about what happens next.
I've done both of these with books I've loved.

The next day, Susan sat next to me during Sarah Ellis' lecture. What does one say? Loss of words is a good way to describe my state. And then I either stepped on her feet or tripped over her--I'm still not quite sure what I DID! ? !

Janice Harrington wrote The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County and a wonderful book of poetry titled, Even the Hollow My Body Made is Gone. My favorites in the poetry book are 'Turning' and 'They all sang'; I was thrilled when she read these out loud.  I enjoyed reading her picture book so much that I read it aloud to my 19 year old son when I visited him in the states and then read it over skype--using the webcam--to my youngest daughter.

What did she talk about?
Her works are influenced by memories and one thing she discusses is the importance of passing down memories in our families.
At the end she asked us all to promote poetry. We all stood and repeated a poetry pledge--and promise we would promote poetry.

I will try to do my part. Read poetry. Read it to your kids or with your friends. Hearing, saying, feeling poetry is essential. I am impressed by those who write poetry. I need to learn more about poetry, so I'll also work on learning about this huge area of literature.

Brian Selznick is an illustrator who spoke. (His book The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott Award.)
In some books, especially picture books, the story begins before the title. Sometimes the illustrator does this on his/her own. The pictures can set up the story or start the story. I've noticed this the past when I've read picture books and I will now pay more careful attention to this aspect of picture books.

He showed some illustrations from his book and discussed how he wrote it. The automaton (which is at the Franklin Institute) that he showed on the screen was fascinating. The end notes of his book give more information if you are interested.

Sarah Ellis spoke about ways one can ease the abrupt transition into the opening pages.  Sometimes there is an introductory note or a prologue. There are also other techniques. She discussed 2 books and literary techniques the authors use. She expanded her thoughts past the beginning pages, but it all connected to these pages. This technical lecture was excellent.

Her remarks made me think about how the writer is concerned about beginnings and how we wonder if we start in the correct spot; because of this I enjoyed this other important angle that we should consider when writing the beginning of our stories.
I hadn't heard of Sarah Ellis before this year--I've now read one of her books, have one in my to-read stack and looked at several others at a library.  The one I read was a satisfying story.

 I am grateful for the opportunity to attend CLNE and meet so many other people who love children's books and who are committed to children's literature. Being around those who love children's books creates a wonderful atmosphere. I have so many more way to think about opening pages, and I'll now spend some time working with my thoughts about opening pages. The CLNE colloquy was delightful; it was awe-inspiring to hear so many thoughts about "The Opening Page."

 

Those who attended CLNE were invited to Steven Kellogg's art studio for a book launch. I had no idea what a book launch entailed. Maybe this one was extra special. I don't know--this was my first one.

First, we wandered around Steven Kellogg's art studio, which overlooks Lake Champlain, and his property. It took time for everyone to arrive--the ferry only holds so many people.

The book: Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out

This book is created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance.  Mary Bridget Barrett coordinated this endeavor. 108 writers and illustrators contributed to this volume which will be used in classrooms across the country. It is amazing. I thumbed through an ARC and read several of the selections. Wow. The list of contributors is a who's who in children's literature.

Excitement = hearing readings from several amazing writers.
Who?
Here is a picture of contributors who read. (I asked if I could post.)



The photo includes Steven Kellogg, Gregory Maguire, Katherine Paterson, M. T. Anderson, Susan Cooper, Linda Johnson Robb,
Margaret Duvall, Virginia Euwer Wolff, Jeanine Atkins, Barbara Harrison and Brian Selznick who read Natalie Babbitt's writing--which goes with his illustration. (I don't have the names in order of where they are standing.)

We all received a Blad, which is a sample of the book; a blad is smaller than the ARC. Here is a photo of my copy.




This book will be released in September and will be less expensive than it states on my blad. (At least that is what I heard.)

 

It is awesome to be around so many people who love books and who are committed to children's literature. CLNE is a wonderful organization.

A few asides, putting the last first. *grin*

Bonfire--We gathered here at the end of the day, under the stars, on a spring evening--slightly chilly--and sang. Book lovers are great singers. I wish you could have heard us, well not me--but the rest of us.

Ashley Bryan--he is amazing--led us in some poems/songs. (I know I mentioned him yesterday. I want to buy at least one of his books; he is also an illustrator.) After this, Gregory Maguire (he wrote Wicked!) led the group in singing.
Oh-I sat at table with Arthur Levine for dinner. Great conversations.

I'll mention the writers from Vermont College because it is so cool to meet faculty and alumni and another student; I will try not to miss someone: Leda Schubert, Sarah Ellis, who will be presenting (!), Tami Brown tamilewisbrown, helenhemphill, Rose Houghton, Louise Simone,  sarahsullivan,  saraharonson and Pam Watts. (I need to find the books that they've published--next time I'm at a good library I will hunt them down.) Many of them are members of Through the tollbooth--which all writers should read. So go to
thru_the_booth  if you haven't read it before and see how great it is.

Kate Messner kmessner  was here today. It was great to meet her and visit for a few minutes.

Lectures:

M. T. Anderson talked about the experimental story.  He used the books One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss and The Arrival by Shaun Tan in his lecture. He discussed uncommon structures.  The Arrival teaches us how to read the book as we read it. (This is a great book. I want to read my copy another time.) He mentioned (and defined and gave examples of) different types of experimental writing, including metafiction, fabulism, intrusion, formalism, nonsense and whimsy, hypertext, self-contradiction, and the organic non-plotted structure.
He talked about his book Octavian Nothing and how he wanted defamiliarization at the beginning; he wanted the reader disoriented at first. He SANG a song called 'The world turned upside down.'
He was great to listen to and what I wrote above does NOT do it justice. Oh, and I'd suggest reading Octavian Nothing.

Panel on internationalism. Some of the members of award committees spoke.
Batchelder award, chosen by the American Libary Association- Winner this year is Brave Story, written by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from Japanese. Honor books The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, written by Jutta Richter from German (The Cat book, in particular caught my attention--I'm going to look it up) and Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny from French.

United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), part of an international book organization, makes an honor list of books not published in the US that have artistic and literary merit.,This is a wonderful resource if you want to read great foreign books.  I looked at some of the books they passed around--check their website if you are interested.

Arthur Levine. He is amazing. He talked about influences in his life. He was told that he wasn't good enough to be an editor; he said we shouldn't listen (like he didn't listen) and be stubborn as we strive for we want to become.
He thinks that every person can find their personality by completing this sentence: "All I want is ___" (We do this with characters, don't we.)

What draws him to books? A book should have an essential truth and a strong emotional narrative.

Pam Munoz Ryan is wonderful. If you ever have a chance to listen to her, go and listen. She had all of us in laughter--for minutes. The book she chose for the conference is Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. (I'll review this book soon.) She mentions how Bradbury made lists that triggered memories and became stories. She gave a list of her reasons for writing and reading and how they are similar. One example of many: She reads for "emotional resonance" and she writes for "catharsis."
She asked us to think about this: What are the best and worst things in your life? When will you get around to "whispering" or "shouting" about these things?

Today will be busy. In addition to lectures from 3 authors (including Susan Cooper), we ride the ferry across Lake Champlain to Steven Kellogg's studio.

I'm waiting for breakfast.  This is quite casual. All the featured writers will be here for the whole weekend and attend all or most of the presentations. One can eat breakfast or sit next to any number of writers at any time. I'm seeing an incredible amount of mingling. I'll try to list the authors who are here who aren't presenting in another post. I doubt I'll be able to name them all. I had to google Ashley Bryan after we talked while standing in the dessert line and I was like, 'wow. Why haven't I read anything he has written.' I looked and couldn't find a website, but here is a link: http://www.rif.org/art/illustrators/bryan.mspx .

Ashley Bryan is now on my list of to read. There are a lot of librarians here. I believe that most, if not all are on literary committees, such as the Newbery. One of the woman's last name is Newbery. I wonder if she is connected, somehow.

About last evening's presentation. Katherine Paterson is fun fun fun to listen to. She spoke and then answered questions.

She talked about opening the pages of a book, how it can change lives and shared a few stories, one of them a personal story about her daughter.

Beginnings--How does one begin? She gave an example of the conversation she has when she begins a new story.  This was so realistic. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who does this.

She says she has to get rid of the inner critic. For her that is getting up at 5 am and typing like fury.
i think we all have inner critics.

The writer needs to play--she compares to a child playing with play dough. Have joy.
"The artist who can't play, can't create."

Hope for those in revision: Katherine thinks she sends her editor a good book, but soon finds out otherwise.

I'm at The Inn at Essex in Vermont, just outside Burlington, for the CLNE Colloquy. (CLNE = Children's Literature New England.)
The weather is beautiful; it is a perfect spring day. I rested and wandered around the gardens this afternoon.

The topic of this colloquy--The Opening Page.   I was assigned had a blast reading 11 books for this event.

Tonight's speaker: Katherine Paterson.
Tomorrow: M. T. Anderson, Arthur Levine and Pam Munoz Ryan.
Saturday: Susan Cooper, Janice Harrington, Steven Kellogg, and Brian O. Selznick.
Sunday: Sarah Ellis and Gregory Maguire.

It will be great to hear their lectures.
Plus, I'm with about hundred people who LOVE children's books.

I'll blog the highlights. I'll post next week if I don't have time during this conference.

I bought more books--here at the Inn, written by presenters and attendees. Only 4 books . . . *grin*


One more thing: earlier today I dropped by Vermont College. It feels more real now that I have walked on campus and met two people who work in the program.

I finished!  :)

I thought it wasn't fair that Vermont College didn't have their own wikipedia page, so I wrote one.

It took a lot of time and I had to learn wiki code. I know that many people will edit it and add to it. That is awesome. I know they will make needed improvements.

Click on the link and look at it. (I think it needs a photo, but I don't have any. Feel free to add a photo, if you've taken one of VC.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_College_of_Fine_Arts

Thank you robinellen and Sharon Darrow for proofreading the article. (If there are errors, grammatical or otherwise, it is my fault, not theirs.)

It feels odd--to send something I wrote into the world.

If anyone wants to write an article--there are a few faculty members (like one that won a Newbery) that do NOT have articles. I'm sure you'd do great!

This is a topic for discussion. (Thankscitycatinwindow for the nudge.)

I think I've made the leap with my characters. Thank you olmue, for insisting last year that my mc's want(s) should be more obvious.

What makes the difference? How does a writer make a protagonist protag?
I can think of these five things. There are more.

• First, I need to know my characters. This is not a surface knowing or fill-in-the-chart exercise. It is to know who they really are, deep down inside.
• Second, I need to know what each character wants.  I think there should be a physical want as well as a driving emotional want.
• Third, I need to know what is important to each character. What does she believe in that will affect all her choices?
• Fourth, the writer needs to find ways to externalize the internal. The reader needs to see who each character is.
• Fifth, we need to see the characters in action. We've all heard, show, don't tell.

So, what do you think a writer needs to do to create characters who act, who drive the story?
I'd love to hear your ideas.

Thanks,
~Sarah

Part one--language difficulties

What triggers a word?

Recently, as I'm visiting the states, situations trigger words in my mind--in Icelandic.  This is disconcerting. Note--I only use Icelandic when I'm shopping; 99% of the time I use English.

Example 1:
Checker in store: Hello
Me: [brain thinks go∂an dagan--pause]  hello

Example 2:
I need to pass another customer in an aisle.
Me: [brain thinks yfirgefir--pause]  Excuse me.

Example 3:
Checker in store: [hands me receipt]
Me: [brain thinks Tak fyrir-pause] Thank you.

I tell my mind--answer in English. The odd thing is I only speak Icelandic at home in the situations above. I don't speak Icelandic often.  I am not fluent. I'm not sure why the Icelandic enters my mind BEFORE English.


Part two--The Land of Abundance

Reverse culture shock happens every time I return home. I know it will happen, but I am still overwhelmed.  I try to enter a tiny grocery store instead of a normal store at first so I can handle the stimulus.

Huge stores. Colors. Choices. Every product imaginable and some beyond belief.

There are SO many choices. Full shelves. Immensity of space and products and good prices and the stores are not crowded.  Where are the customers?

There is too much stimulus,
too much to see,
too many choices,
too much to buy,
 too much to want.

I did not know I wanted all these great products--until I entered the store. I did not know these products existed.
(I lived in the US most of my life, but have lived overseas now for 6 years.)

I'm trying to imagine someone who had never experienced America, and what they would comprehend and think the first time they entered a US store. A Target. A Fred Meyers or Safeway.

Choose any store. Look. I mean really look. It is amazing. We need to be more grateful. Americans live in a land of abundance.

Winded

I live at sea level. This past week I've discovered that exercising at high altitude (above 4000 feet) is a breathless experience.
Here is the conversation my body has when I go running.

Lungs: STOP. Now!
Muscles: Keep moving. You feel like stretching and sprinting and jumping.
Lungs: Air. I NEED air. Now!
Muscles: Wait. Just a minute more.
Lungs: Can. not. breathe.

FYI--My lungs win.

Today--library and bookstore visits. *grin*

Fiction is an art and John Gardner shows the writer how to become a true artist of words, sentences, scenes, and story.

He discusses all aspects of writing from "Literary-Aesthetic theory" to common errors to plotting to the writer's responsibilities. This dense book will likely require a highlighter and more than one read; the effort the serious writer exerts to understand this book is worth it. My book's pages are highlighted and the inside covers are filled with notes referring to page numbers.

Group and individual exercises included at the end of the book are a good resource for writers.

Gardner states that the most common mistake of beginning writers is the "Failure to recognize that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon . . ." He says a writer must master the techniques and fundamentals of writing fiction so he can master the art of "breaking so-called rules."

If one is short on time, I'd suggest reading the chapters in part 2 which cover common errors, technique and plotting. This half was more straightforward. The concepts in this half are easier to apply to one's writing. I plan to read this book another time.

I'd suggest this book to the serious writer who wants to master the craft of novel writing.

Yes, I actually read this grammar book, or most of it.
 This is the best grammar book I've ever seen. It covers all aspects of grammar and includes clear explanations and examples. In addition, this book gives guidelines to writing papers, and the basics of MLA notation.  Exercises are included with each topic. A website is a companion to the book. The website contains more exercises and discusses issues and controversies about grammar.

I learned the reasons why I naturally make certain grammar choices. I found the sections on grammar for non-native English speakers interesting, because I live overseas and hear these errors. I wouldn't suggest reading this book, but it is a great reference source.

This book should sit on every writer's bookshelf, right next to The Elements of Style by William Strunk.

Today The Compound, the newest book by latteya, is being released. 

It's been nominated for both ALA's 2009 Best Books for Young Adults and 2009 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers lists.  Other reviews are here.

Congratulations, Stephanie!  Happy book birthday

 

Congratulation,kathys_shadow !!!

Kathy graduated today with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities--film emphasis, sum cum laude and with University Honors.



Very few students graduate with University Honors. Her thesis title is An American Teenager in Brazil: A Memoir.




Kathy will begin her Master of Arts in English rhetoric very soon.

(My blog policy is to not show people or faces--but I wanted to show something.)

Yesterday's post about the semester and studying at home can be found here.

So far I have interacted with faculty, students, alumni and staff from Vermont College. Every single experience has been positive. Every writer connected with Vermont loves story and wants more high-quality books written for children. Vermont does not have an atmosphere of competition, but creates an atmosphere of cooperation and positive support.

Tami Brown, a Vermont College alumna and a member of the Board of Directors told me that "the faculty at Vermont College is far and away the most engaged, caring, brilliant group of people I've ever been around."

I workshopped with Martine Leavitt last year and was blown over by her insights and ability to help every writer believe in herself.

Current faculty include: Kathi Appelt, Sharon Darrow, Sarah Ellis, David Gifaldi, Ellen Howard, Uma Krishnaswami, Jane Kurtz, Julie Larios, Leda Schubert, Cynthia Leitich Smith-- cynleitichsmith , Rita Williams-Garcia, Tim Wynne-Jones, Marion Dane Bauer, Margaret Bechard and Martine Leavitt. Here is a link to the faculty page.

Every faculty member has won literary awards. Some of these honors are: Newbury Honor award, National Book Award Finalist, ALA Best Book awards, Horn Book honoree, a Pushcart Prize, PEN finalist, Paterson Poetry Prize, and one author was featured at the 2007 National Book Festival. Each member of Vermont's faculty is a great teacher and mentor.

Students come to Vermont with a variety of backgrounds. Some have English or other Bachelors' of Arts degrees. Some have law degrees. Others have degrees not related to writing, for example, my bachelor's degree is in Business Management. Some students enter with almost no writing experience, while others have several books published or have worked in the book industry. I am already meeting current students and alumni online. This includes an incredible forum (chat board) created and maintained by a graduate from the program.

Several alumni blog on livejournal. A group blogs on Through the Booth in thru_the_booth. They include: carriejones , helenhemphill , Kelly Bingham-- bingham2 , lizgallagher, saraharonson,  sarahsullivan, tamilewisbrown , Stephanie Greene--scgreene, and zuvincent.
Other alumni I know livejournal includeemilywingsmith , juliegberry  bondgwendabond.

I look forward to working closely with other writers as I attend Vermont College.
"It takes only a few days at Vermont College for new friendships to begin to form, friendships and working relationships that will probably in some cases last a lifetime," says Sharon Darrow , the faculty chair for Vermont's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Creating story is a magic we as writers thrill in. But the the magic and energy that is created when writers interact takes more than one writer. It is bigger. This is what makes Vermont College's writing community special.

Yesterday's post about residency can be found here.

What I love about Vermont's program is it is tailored to the individual.

Please remember, I have not yet experienced a semester at Vermont. But I have friends who are current students and have read all the information sent to me.

Vermont is a low-residency program because the students study at home during the semester. Each student chooses what she will study and write for the next six months and discusses her plan in individual meetings during residency with a faculty advisor. Each faculty member works with no more than five students. Over the course of the program, each student will work with four different advisors/authors.

Students are expected to spend a minimum of 25 hours a week on their studies. Each student turns in five packets to her faculty advisor during each semester.

These packets include creative writing, annotations of books, critical essays, a letter to the advisor and whatever else the student decided will help her learn.
 
Students read and annotate many books, both craft and chldren's books, related to their writing. A current student told me she read almost 100 books last semester.  I think the number of books read is often 8-20 books per packet.

Critical essays are written on topics of the students' choice.

Students will write and turn in pages and pages of creative work with each packet. The number of pages is determined with the advisor. Some of the pages are new writing and others will be revised. Some of these pages will be original creative writing and some will be revised.
 
The focus of the third semester is a 20 to 50 page critical thesis.

During the fourth semester a student focuses on their creative thesis, plus prepares a lecture for the final residency.

From what I've seen the advisor gives us feedback, encourages us to stretch ourselves and helps us as we work toward our writing goals. We are encouraged to explore. We can try picture books if we think of ourselves as novelists, short stories if we've only ever written middle grade novels. We can try to write in a different style. Vermont is a place where students can take risks with their writing.

Most creative theses are not published by book publishers, but some are. Sometimes the writer will expand her story into a publishable book. One example of a book that began in Vermont's program, was published and became a National Book Award Finalist is Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt.

How does a student communicate with her advisor? I believe it is mostly through email. I have heard of phone calls between the student and their advisor/mentor. This one-on-one approach helps the student reach her potential.

Tomorrow, part five: People, the real magic of Vermont College

Yesterday's post about the application process can be found here.

My first residency will be in July, but I'll share what I've learned about residencies so far. The residency is a time to meet other writers, and form friendships and professional relationships that will last after graduation.

Residency appears to be an intense writers' retreat.

Students and faculty meet on Vermont's campus twice a year in July and January for ten days. Many students live in the dorms, although one can choose to stay in a local hotel or bread-and-breakfast inn. Meals are eaten in the cafeteria. Residency is busy: last semester's schedule shows activities from 8 or 9 in the morning until 8 in the evening or even later. A couple open half-days appear on the schedule as well as planned social events.

Every faculty member and each graduating student gives a lecture and a reading. Visiting authors give lectures and readings.  Last semester, Jane Yolen was the author-in-residence. Panel discussions and student readings are also on the schedule.

Students receive feedback on their creative writing in a small group workshop setting.
Each student meets with her faculty advisor and they plan the individualized course of study for the student's upcoming semester.
The culminating event of the residency is graduation.

There are five residencies for the MFA degree.
The picture book program students also attend two residencies. Tami Brown, tamilewisbrown a Vermont alumni and member of Vermont College's Board of Birectors, interviewed Dianne White on April 21st. Click here to read the interview and learn more about the picture book program.

What do I need to do before my first residency begins?

I need to send in up to twenty pages of creative writing. A group of students and two faculty members will read my pages before residency begins and I will read several other students' creative writing. Each group discusses their members' pages during the workshop portion of residency.

I'm also reading some books written by the faculty so I will be familiar with their writing. This is fun. I'm reading some wonderful books I might not have picked out on my own.

Sharon Darrow, the faculty chair, in the new student letter says, "The residency is intense and its effect on you will be powerful, even transforming..."


Tomorrow, part four: The semester and studying at home

Yesterday's introductory post can be found here.

I decided I was going to apply to Vermont College in January. First, I read all the information on Vermont College's website and learned what I needed to do to apply.

Next, I contacted BYU, my undergraduate university and requested that they send my transcript to Vermont.

Then I chose how to approach my personal and my critical essays. These essays are not long, about three pages in length. But I knew the essays are critical in the admission decision, so I gave these a lot of thought. Vermont's website states: "Admission to the program is based primarily on the quality of original work submitted by you and the judgment by the faculty committee that your goals are compatible with the program’s design and ideals."  (Admissions page.) 

I had never written a critical literary essay, so I looked through Vermont's site and found some sample essays in the current student resources. I asked a few of my friends who graduated with an English degree how they suggested approaching this type of essay.

I wrote my critical essay on Multiple Points of View--A Tool to Increase Suspense, using Melissa Marr's--   melissa_writing --Wicked Lovely for examples. My personal essay included my background in writing and goals I have for the future. I created this essay in a format emphasizing my growth as a writer during the last two years since I have little experience. I revised both essays several times.

I asked two writers to write recommendations for me.

I applied online. I created a name and password, which are now forgotten, and filled out the form. I did not complete the application in one day. It is convenient to fill it out a section or two at a time. Vermont College charges a fee and I paid this online.

I revised my essays again, before submitting them online.

A writing sample is also required. An applicant can apply to more than one genre, for example picture books and middle grade prose. I submitted about 20 pages from my first young adult book, Crossings.

I received an email from Vermont College after they received my application. They let me know what they had received and said they would review my application as soon as they received one more recommendation. It was nice to be kept informed. I knew that the other recommendation had been sent and would arrive soon.

Deadlines: Applications are reviewed when received. March 1st was the deadline for Fall 2008, which really starts with the residency in July. I applied in early February and all parts of my application were received by February 15th. I expected a four to six week wait, but they contacted me on February 25th.


Tomorrow, part three: Vermont's residency, the on-campus part of the program

The reason for this blog series: I've received a few questions about Vermont College and its Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Writing for Children and Young Adults degree.

I had heard that Vermont College is amazing; I 'm beginning to experience what makes Vermont College unique. I have a week of posts planned and will discuss what I've discovered.

The MFA degree is a terminal degree, the highest degree in the chosen area of study. Vermont College offers Masters of Fine Arts degrees in Visual Art, Writing, and Writing for Children and Young Adults. Vermont College was the first to offer an MFA that focuses on writing for children. An MFA degree takes four six-month semesters and five residencies to complete. A graduate-level picture book certificate program is also offered--this program involves one semester of intense work and two residencies.

I was accepted to several MFA programs, but I chose Vermont. Why? Vermont College is a special community of writers.

Everyone--students, alumni, faculty--loves children's literature; everyone is willing to help other writers; everyone thrills in each other's creations; everyone is committed to writing high quality children's stories.
 
Vermont College cares about the individual.
Real examples: I received emails and messages from alumni and students when they heard I was attending Vermont. I found out about my acceptance by a phone call, not a sterile letter. I've talked with both the program director and faculty chair on the phone. Vermont College, the faculty, the students and the staff care about every individual.

I asked Sharon Darrow, (her website is at http://www.sharondarrow.com) the faculty chair of Vermont College's Writing for Children and Young Adult program, and the award-winning author of the book Trash (2006) and The Painters of Lexieville and other books, this question:

What transformations can occur in a student and her writing with a Vermont MFA? She answered with the following:

What I enjoy most and what I continually see happening in others and in myself as a part of the process is the change in the Self of the writer, a transformation that seems to be just waiting to begin and proceeds rapidly (if at times, with some growing pains) once the student is enmeshed in the residency and then the semester. ... It is as if we were meant to be here at just the same time and as if we are finally at the place of readiness in our writing lives to become the Self we were meant to be. It is a difficult passage at times, but the birthing of Self would be, wouldn't it? So...as you see, I am convinced that this program is far more than one that produces fine writing, but one that produces fine writers who are more themselves than ever. ... I'm sure there are many places where something similar could happen, but there truly is a kind of magic about this place--Vermont--that gives this college something extra.

Vermont College is a place of magic: a place where imagination, writing craft and mentoring merge.

Tomorrow, part two: the application process.

 

My protagonists are protagging.
As sarah_prineas  says, it is important to "write a protagonist who does protag." http://sarah-prineas.livejournal.com/35788.html

My protagonists are protagging from page 1. It is more complicated to have multiple characters protag, but I'm figuring it out.

Note: protag is a verb for what a protagonist should be doing.

I am also protagging.
In addition to creating protagging protagonists, I am writing a wikipedia article. (Anyone want to practice their technical editing skills?)
I also swam 800 meters today.


I'll post a blog series on the MFA degree and Vermont College next week. If you have any questions for me, email me or post them in the comments. I'll do my best to find the answers.