Mothering Your Writing

First - the winner of the 5 page critique (via randomizer.org) is MARGO! Yeah! I'll email you with detes.

In honor of Mother's Day, and as a mother of three, I want to talk a bit about parenting. Parenting your manuscript that is. Take a look at this post via Agent Carly Watters. It got me thinking. We do treat our work like our babies, and I get it, but it isn't always healthy. 

So how do you KNOW you're in that unhealthy zone?

• Do you read for revision, but see nothing that can or should be changed?
• Do you have a suspicion that the minute you send it out in the query world it will be gobbled up immediately?
• Do you like your own writing better than anything else out there?

What should you do if you're there or close (even on occasion)? 

• Put the manuscript in a virtual drawer and start working on something new. Because you know what? Until I'd written several manuscripts I was so enamored with my characters it was hard to concentrate on other things. Now I enjoy diving back in with old friends, but I can separate myself just fine between.
• Make sure you use good critique partners. You have to have another set of eyes. Trustworthy ones. It takes time to find good ones, but they're worth their weight in gold. And be open to criticism, even if that means holding off for another day or two when you get notes. 
• Force yourself to rewrite a section. Even if you think it's perfect. Start over and do something different. Maybe try a new POV. You'll realize there might be more than one way to say things. 

Any other tips? Have you ever fallen into this trap? 

NEXT WEEK STARTS MY BLOG TOUR FOR THE BINDING STONE!! Stop by for a schedule and giveaway info on Monday. 

What About the Mummy? Where Are the Parents in YA?

We tend to ignore characters if they make things difficult for us. We see so many vampires and werewolves because they're much sexier than mummies. We avoid the parents because we want to put our MC in danger. We're all aware of the trope - the teen MC with dead or otherwise incapacitated parents, or the uninvolved, either selfish or simply ignorant mother/father. I'm talking YA, but the truth is this is even harder to deal with in MG because of the level of independence a 12 year old has when compared to a 16 year old. 

So what do we do? How do we cope? We know we can't rush to the rescue, so we need some way to keep the parents out of the way. Right? Not always. Here are three possibilities that may make the characters more complex:

1. The parent is part of the story in an integral and positive way. Sometimes they can play the role of guide or support. Yes, the MC needs to solve the problem herself. But we allow her friends and love interests, so why not adult interaction? Don't be afraid to give it a try, you might be surprised with what you find.
2. The parent has an agenda of his/her own that whether well intentioned or not, is in some way at odds with that of the MC. So they may be around, offer guidance even, but it may not be what the MC really needs.
3. The missing (whether physically or mentally) parent. I'm absolutely guilty of ditching the parents in my own work. I admit it. Sometimes it's just plain necessary. But (and here's the key I think) I TRY to make it a genuine part of the story - not just a convenience. It's important to me to make the pieces connect back to the larger puzzle. Sometimes I strike out, and I have to work even harder, but it's a worthy goal so I strive to meet it.

What other inventive ways can we involve the parents in the story?
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