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Elevensies in CWIM

I bought the 2011 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market a few weeks ago.  The yearly CWIM lists book and short story markets, agents, conferences, and markets. And the first hundred pages or so are devoted to articles about writing tips, trends, and new authors.   If you turn to page 75, you’ll find a great article by our own Sara Bennett Wealer about the Elevensies: “Authors Unite Online: Support, Sharing & Celebration During the Debut Year.” Nice!

In the 2007 (or 2008) CWIM, I first read about another debut group, the Class of2K7.  I remember thinking what a brilliant idea it was for several debut authors to band together to market their books. And I told myself when I sold my first book, I’d join something like that.

I did. Actually I joined two debut groups (plus the group blog, League of Extraordinary Writers).  While searching for the Class of 2K11, I found the Elevensies. (I also found the Class of 2K11 because most of us are also Elevensies.)  The two groups serve different purposes, but both are invaluable for debut young adult and middle grade authors.

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Research as Story Engine

Space Shuttle Main Engines
Space Shuttle Main Engines firing at liftoff.

Here’s a little exercise I like for coming up with ideas and stories.

  1. Pick a story from a magazine, website, book, tv show, or whatever that grabs your attention.
  2. Summarize the article (or the part that intrigues you). This helps  focus your thoughts.
  3. Brainstorm answers to these questions (or any others you can think of):
    • What are the implications of the idea?
    • Why did it tickle your imagination?
    • Who would the idea affect?
    • What are the benefits and/or dangers?
    • What scenarios might this lead to?
    • What problems would it cause?
    • Are there solutions?
    • Who would be the least likely hero to deal with this?
  4. Run with the idea.
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New Workshop for Young Writers

Fellow Elevensies Kathy McCullough, Shawn Goodman, and Randy Russell have put together a pretty cool site for young writers called the Young Writers Notebook. They’re still in the beta testing stage–with a planned official launch in September. But, if you’re a teen writer (or know of one) who’d like to help them test what works and what doesn’t, hop on over to the Notebook site.

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