Kelly, Pamela Glass, and Mary Spelman, eds. From Inspiration to Publication--How to Succeed as a Children's Writer: Advice from 15 Award-Winning Writers. West Redding, CT: Institute of Children's Literature, 2000.

Well-written and easy-to-read, From Inspiration to Publication . . . is a great resource for the beginning writer. In fact, I plan to re-read it several times in order to further cement the concepts that it presents into my brain. I especially appreciated how the authors of the articles shared the process from concept to finished product, how they got their ideas, and the glimpse on how they did research and organized their materials.

Several things came to mind as I worked my way through the book. First, I continue to struggle with my manuscript, plotting in particular. Based on my communication with my mentor, I have changed the ages of my characters from high school (freshman and juniors) to middle school (seventh and eighth graders). This then projects that the age of my readers will be young teens, ages 10-14, who are referred to as adolescent readers. I don't think that my readers would be considered intermediate readers who are 8-12 years old as I think that the lower end of that age group is too young. (Kelly, p. 18)

According to From Inspiration . . . , adolescent readers want to "confront adult problems and find solutions." So, my intent to explore friendship, flirtation, and the judgment of others through a Catholic Christian lens seems like a path that will be of interest to this audience. I think that I need to increase the friction between Annette and her parents. I have to identify some issue or issues that will contribute to this friction. One way would be to have Annette's parents refuse to allow Annette to go to the football game. She would then go to the game, causing her to lie to them.

At some point, I'll need to scrutinize my sentence structure and the vocabulary being used to make sure that these elements are appropriate for this age group. I should be striving for about 20-word sentences, paragraphs up to 10 sentences long, and incorporating lots of dialogue. (Kelly, pp. 27-28)

Early on, I started working on the back story for my main character Annette. I think that the biggest reason why I haven't moved my manuscript further along is that I haven't committed to a "single, compelling conflict" for my main character. (Kelley, p. 30) I want her to have to choose between the two boys, Joey Hutchins and Rick Riley. I want Joey to be a nice, unassuming kid--the good guy whom the girl overlooks in favor of the flashy, older, more dangerous Rick Riley. Of course, her initial choice will be for Rick, but she'll quickly see that he isn't as great as she thought he was.

I keep coming back to the plot or a lack of one in my story. Is this my inability to make a decision? Have I failed to think it through? Am I just fearful? Do I lack adequate knowledge of life as a seventh grader, and hence struggle with putting that on the page?

My beginning: Establish my characters (Annette, Cady, Joey, Rick, Stacey, and Becca). Set the scene (junior high and home) Establish the problem (Annette has two boys interested in her, one good and one who is older and not so good; the decisions that she makes in regard to these two boys will affect her relationship with her parents, her friend, Cady, and with herself).

My middle: Annette, Cady, and Joey all go to the football game. Annette leaves the group to hang out with Rick Riley, further alienating Stacey (same-sex antagonist), as well as her friends Cady and Joey. Annette leaves the game with Rick and ends up at a party for older kids. Realizing she's in over her head, Annette has to find her own way home: Does she call Cady or Joey? Does she call her parents? Does she accept a ride from some older kids she doesn't know?

My ending: Annette gets invited to her first dance and has to convince her parents that she's learned from her experience at the football game in order to be able to go. At the dance, she again has to make choices about Joey and Rick Riley. Has she learned anything from the first football game?

I think that I have to further delineate what problems that I want Annette to solve. What lessons does she need to learn? How do these experiences relate back to her Catholic faith?

After reviewing the critiques of my submission(s) and noting the comments about point of view, I've made an effort to reread Chapter 5 and look for examples in the other fiction that I read/listened to this term. What helped was listening to the audio book for Sue Monk Kidd's The Mermaid Chair. Kidd changes POV frequently within this novel.

I think that I have to better develop my ability to write AND identify conflict within not only my story but all fiction. I also need to better identify what a scene is and be able to see that its contents or action truly moves the story along. I also have to make some decisions about how Annette grows from her experiences.