A Gathering of Story Nerds: You decide what it means to be a writer.

 A common writing term explored in many workshops in that a character needs agency. A character’s agency is a concept that is easy to understand – whose story is it, after all?  I’m beginning to think there’s more to agency than just character.  I’m beginning to think it is as much about the writer (me) as it is about the character.

After finishing a novel, one of the most asked questions writers ask themselves is “what happens now”? Whether it’s about submitting to agents, or to self-publish, writing to trends or looking for reviews.  How many rejections must one receive before giving up? Am I good enough to succeed?

“What happens next” is at once a confrontation with change, fear of that change, and a worry that it won’t ever change.  Being an old duck has taught me two things: 1. I can’t control what’s beyond my control. 2. All I can do is waddle forward.

It taught me a third lesson, too, probably the most important lesson of all: Write what you love. Write your passion.  Learn all the rules but when the rules no longer fit, create your own. Sometimes, you need to think sideways. In the end, you decide what it means to be a writer. 

Blend genres.  I write historical fiction, often blending it with a pinch of tall tales and a dash of fantasy, experimenting with tropes to create a more interesting brew and exploring different narrative shapes. I grew up reading historical adventures and watching Doctor Who (a show that bent history into a wibbly wobbly adventure, to be sure!) Of course, it was the boys who were having all the fun. I wanted to know about those other stories, plain and ordinary girls like me. Girls can be heroes, too, after all. 

Strong female characters are not merely spunky spirits with backbone. Sometimes they take the lead. They seek neither domination over another nor ascendance into elitist power. Choices are made when life no longer fits her definition, when they are free to be who they need to be. Such stories empower the young, and often reluctant, reader to seek and ultimately discover the hero within herself. 

My characters also broke the rules and norms of their period as they struggled to take control of their destiny. This focus reaffirmed the theme that underscores all my writing: Doing right wasn’t always easy, and sometimes it could be dangerous, but it could also change the world. And, in reading my stories, young readers are empowered to do the same.

 Barbary Chronicles: The Lost Prince is out October 6! For preorder information, visit Charlesbridge Moves! 

Change genres.  Yvonne Ventrusca’s esteemed career includes the award-winning young adult novels, Black Flowers, White Lies (Sky Pony, 2016) and Pandemic (Sky Pony, 2014). She’s also written short stories for several anthologies as well as nonfiction. For Yvonne, “It's never too late to try a different creative path, including switching the audience I write for. Switching audiences allows me to take what I've learned over the years about the craft of writing and apply the knowledge in a new way. Although my previously published books are for teens, on May 18, 2027, my adult thriller debut, If I'm Gone, will be out from Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks. This novel explores topics like complicated family relationships, murder, and the secrets we keep, all from an adult point of view. 

Yvonne’s website: yvonneventresca.com

To preorder Yvonne’s new book, you can call your favorite indie and ask to preorder it (ISBN 978-1615955213), Bookshop.org can help you find an indie near you (you can also order from them online), and it's available from Amazon.

Here’s a treat! If you do pre-order If I'm Gone, please the receipt and email Yvonne  (via her website) a screenshot. She hopes to hold a pre-order giveaway as the release date gets closer, and would love for anyone who orders now to be included. 

Think sideways. In her article, What If Your Book Isn’t Your Whole Dream?, L. A. Mitchell offers that “You can have the writing life you want, before or after publication. Believe me when I say that your writing life can be so much bigger than one book or series or even twenty releases. This is your invitation to look sideways.”  The publishing world is in constant flux, offering writers a way to expand their creative energies to turn it into a full-on experience. Besides writing the books, you can help build the world, shape it, package it, visualize it, record it, design it, perform it, market it, research it, adapt it, teach it, expand it, merchandise it, map it, score it. 

Holly Schindler has written across several genres, including the critically acclaimed YA, A Blue So Dark and Playing Hurt;  the  award-winning MG, The Junction Of Sunshine And Lucky; and a psychological thriller Feral. Recently she decided to expand her writing platform to include teaching, editing and freelance writing. In other words, she actively builds a publishing ecosystem that encompasses, as Mitchell affirms,  “the collection of things you do, the people you work with, and the skills you develop that support the writing life you’re trying to create.”

Besides publishing writing manuals (including one of my favorites, Narrative Transportation: The Science of Writing Immersive Fiction, 2026) Holly now has a Youtube channel, in which she takes a deep dive into important story elements, literature,  even book design elements for independent publishing, including Format Your Chapter Titles: InDesign for Authors and Typography Tricks that Make Your Self-Published Book Look Traditionally Published. She also offers several discussions into genre, including her recent release on writing a comedic main character:

 

Holly’s new book, Build a Comedic Main Character Inside & Out, is available now!  

Holly’s website: https://www.hollyschindler.com/

To see Holly’s full line of videos, visit her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@hollyschindler

"Your [story] is yours, and like everything else that belongs to you, it can be built the way you want..."-- Cornel Manu, Building the Life You Want

-- Bobbi Miller