This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on June 2nd, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Earlier this week, I had a call with the team for the write-for-hire book series I'm working on this year. On our agenda: brainstorm ideas for the second book.

I'm happy to say I came to that meeting with loads of ideas—and left with even more. Now I'm in the process of writing a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline, which I will send to the client, my editor, and my agent by the end of next week. It's fun to be back at the idea phase. Right now, the book is filled with possibility. I'm dreaming up new characters, new interactions, new twists. I'm thinking about how to take concepts I introduced in book one to the next level, how to fulfill promises I made and raise the stakes. I'm also going back through book one and trying to find all of the seeds I planted. (For example, I referenced an upcoming school fall festival that now has to actually happen.)

Before the last few years, I was not a big outliner. For some projects, I still probably won't be. But in certain contexts—like writing-for-hire—I have found it to be so, so helpful. Once this detailed outline is approved, I'll paste each chapter's synopsis into my Scrivener document's notes section. Then, every day when I sit down to write the zero-draft, I will know exactly what I need to do. Of course, things can diverge from the outline. With book one, I added two chapters when I realized I was missing a few story beats, and I rearranged a bunch of other plot elements that weren't in quite the right order. But in terms of getting words on the blank page, it's tremendously useful to have a plan.

MarcyKate and I also worked with an outline in order to write The Thirteenth Circle, though what we started with was a lot less detailed than what I'm doing now. In the case of a coauthored book, having an outline up front allowed us each to work separately without accidentally steering the train off the track. We had mile markers we had to reach. Landmarks on the horizon. That said, there was plenty of room to play—and to surprise each other with unexpected twists and cliffhangers.

Writers like to talk about being either plotters or pantsers (i.e. writing by the seat of one's pants). I've always considered myself somewhere in the middle of that spectrum: a "plantser." I generally like to write toward signposts, but not to have so much planned out up front that it takes away the joy of discovering new ideas and characters as I go along. Knowing a few key scenes that have to be in the story also helps me avoid writer's block: if I'm stuck at a certain point, I can jump ahead to the next big moment I am certain of, and then work backward to fill in the gap.

This write-for-hire series is the most heavily I've ever outlined before beginning to write. But every manuscript is different, and writing a book as a contractor is different from having complete creative control over my own vision. I don't necessarily have time to noodle around in discovery mode until I find the perfect plot point. I have to figure out as much as I can in advance, get the go-ahead from the other members of the team, and trust that my instincts as a writer will get me the rest of the way.

I've been seriously writing fiction for over a dozen years now, and one of the ways I keep myself sharp and fresh is by trying new things. Sometimes, that means writing in a new genre or for a new age group. Other times, it means changing up my process. Writing-for-hire has been a big change of process—in a good way. I've added new skills to my toolbox. I'm continuing to learn and to grow. It's also valuable to try something and discover it's not for me! Everything is a step forward, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.

So back to my chapter-by-chapter outline. My outline for book one ended up being about ten pages, 1.5 spaced. (I prefer 1.5 over single or double. *insert shrugging emoji here*) I'm aiming for about the same length for book two, both because I found that level of detail to be useful to me in drafting book one and because I want to give my client and my editor a similar amount of plot to consider this time around. The more they're on board from the start, the less I'll have to rewrite down the line.

It's all a process. A journey.

And it's due next week, so it's time for me to sign off here and get back to it!

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: Two amazing sci-fi-ish middle-grade novels: Tae Keller's Jennifer Chan is Not Alone, about an alien-loving girl who disappears and the girl who may have bullied her into running away, and Lee Bacon's The Last Human, about a future when robots have eradicated humans...or so they all think, until a friendly bot meets a 12-year-old girl who has somehow survived. As I gear up for the January release of The Thirteenth Circle, I want to read more middle-grade sci-fi. Any recommendations for me?

Watching: We started "American Born Chinese" on Disney+ and it's great so far! Based on a graphic novel that was a finalist for the National Book Award, this series is a mash-up of Chinese mythology and realistic teen drama, and it's so fun.

Enjoying: Long neighborhood walks in the springtime sunshine.

Loving: It's officially beach season! People don't think of NYC as having good beaches, but there are a few, and we made our first trip out to soak up some sun over Memorial Day Weekend. Here's my excited mermaid girl striking a pose.

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on May 5th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

"The book will tell you what to do, if you make space for it."

That's one of the things Christopher Denise, author/illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Knight Owl (and illustrator of many other acclaimed children's books) shared during his keynote speech at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators conference last weekend—and it stuck with me.

Christopher talked a lot about making space: for creativity, for productivity, for growth. He talked about being open: to sparks of inspiration, to projects that seem challenging, to new directions. The theme of the conference was "STRETCH," and many of the workshops were about pushing past boundaries and comfort zones, but Christopher also interpreted the theme as being able to step back—and being willing to go deep.

Being at the conference was shoving me out of my comfort zone.

I was definitely stretching.

The "stretch" wasn't the conference itself; I'd attended before, in 2014. I was pre-published. The Distance Between Lost and Found had sold to HarperCollins, and I'd completed my edits, but I was still 10 months away from the release date. I was there with my friend Janae Marks—and it was at this conference that I first met my eventual coauthor, MarcyKate Connolly, face to face!

Pardon the extremely fuzzy 2014 photo. ;)

So, the conference environment itself felt familiar. But this was my first time being on faculty at any sort of professional conference, leading workshops for my peers. I felt confident in my knowledge of the workshop topics: planning and booking school visits (with Janae) and co-authoring a book (with MarcyKate). I didn't feel confident that anyone there would be interested in what I, a decidedly non-famous, solidly midlist author, had to say.

My workshops were both scheduled for Sunday, and so on Saturday, I listened to Christopher's inspiring keynote speech, then popped back up to my hotel room to do a couple hours of work on the book revision that was due on Monday. After lunch, I sat in on MarcyKate's first workshop, about creating magic systems for fantasy novels. Then, I went to a workshop for published authors, led by a bookstore employee and a school librarian, with tips for connecting with independent bookstores and libraries.

In the magic workshop, I came up with an inkling of a new idea—something that might just dovetail perfectly with another topic I've wanted to write about for years, but couldn't figure out how to tackle. In the bookstore/library workshop, I took pages and pages of notes on tactics I may implement to more effectively spread the word about my books.

That evening, I thought about those two sessions as I went over my notes for my own workshops the next day. And when it was finally time for me to be standing at the front of the room, slideshow cued up, I felt ready. (Or at least, as ready as I could ever be...)

The workshop on school visits was first, and it was a full house! Standing room only! The room was about 50/50 authors who'd done school visits before and those who hadn't, but wanted to dive in. Janae and I tried to be thorough and honest, particularly about the sometimes thorny topic of setting your fees. We took questions—and suggestions, when someone in the audience had a slightly different point of view based on their own experience. The thing about school visits is, every school is different. Every single one! Different budgets. Different culture. Different atmosphere. Different priorities. While there are definitely some tried-and-true tips for making school visits a part of your author platform, there are other elements that you have to figure out on the fly—every time.

I finished that workshop feeling absolutely exhilarated. We'd made our points, we'd stayed open to audience participation and conversation, and we seemed to have genuinely helped especially the newbie authors start to think about how they could incorporate school visits into their offerings.

But I still had one workshop to go!

After lunch, MarcyKate and I were set to talk about the co-authoring process. This workshop also went well—but it was very different. The audience was small, so we decided to go for a more casual vibe. We followed our presentation outline, but also went off on a few tangents based on what people were interested in hearing about co-authoring and about our upcoming book. It felt more like a chat amongst friends than a workshop. Which was fine, and fun!

And then I quickly changed shoes, turned in my faculty lanyard, and speed-walked to the train station to catch my Amtrak back to NYC.

Now, as I reflect on what ended up being a very successful weekend (even though I signed zero—ZERO!—books at the faculty book signing, haha...), I have a few more thoughts on making space for inspiration and growth:

1) Sign up to do the scary thing. Presenting at this conference wasn't my idea; Janae invited me to submit a workshop with her, and then I asked MarcyKate if she wanted to submit a second one. I don't know if I would have had the courage or the confidence to do this on my own! But I am so glad I did.

2) Take advantage of opportunities. Part of the compensation for being on faculty at the conference was getting to attend for free! I did have some work that had to get done, but I'm so happy I made time to sit in on a couple workshops. The info I learned in the bookstore/library one will be so valuable to me moving forward—and I made a personal connection with one of the presenters. Meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about the idea I had in the session on magic systems. I truly feel like I have cracked this other topic I wanted to write about wide open. (Sorry-not-sorry to be vague...) Would I have come to this new idea without having been in that room, with those people, thinking about that subject (creating rules for a system of magic)? I don't know—but I do know that an idea you can't stop thinking about is magic in itself.

3) Make space to be in community. The official theme of the conference may have been "STRETCH," but it might as well have been "JOY." Everyone was just so happy to be with one another in person! And even though I wasn't reconnecting with as many friends (I'm technically a member of the New York chapter of SCBWI), I felt that joy as well. To be in a room filled with hundreds of storytellers, celebrating the stories that we create and the readers for whom we create them...it's a dream. Getting away from "real life' for a weekend isn't always easy, but I was reminded that I need that community—that space.

And now I'm home, processing everything I learned and thinking about what could be next! (And getting tons of snuggles from my kiddo!)

What do you do to make space in your creative life? It doesn't have to be as big as a conference or retreat. Do you have everyday ways of feeding your creativity and giving yourself room to grow?

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: After spending the weekend with Janae, I picked up her third novel (and the sequel to her debut), On Air With Zoe Washington. I don't want to spoil the events of the first Zoe Washington book for those who haven't read it, but I do want to say that I love Janae's writing. She has such a perfect middle-grade voice: able to tackle tough topics while also staying in the sweet spot of tween/young teen interests and drama. I can't wait to read Janae's next book!

Working on: I turned in my revision of the write-for-hire book on Monday, and on Wednesday, MarcyKate and I received our first-pass pages for The Thirteenth Circle. First-pass pages are basically a final proofread, after the manuscript has been formatted for printing. Once we approve this version, it won't be terribly long before advance copies start making their way out into the world.

Loving: An attendee at my school visit workshop with Janae took this picture, as we were each introducing ourselves and our books. While it's admittedly not the most flattering picture that's ever been taken of me, I love having this record of what turned out to be a pretty cool "first" in my career!

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