Stephen Chbosky

I wrote this post a while back as a guest spot on the Antithesis blog tour. Now, more than ever, I think it’s important to remind myself why I write. Plus, it’s a good post. It’s over a year later and it’s still relevant. I spent the afternoon Googling myself, and this is what I came up with. Won’t go into detail, the post speaks for itself. Enjoy!

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE THE HARD STUFF?

Originally appeared at: YA Midnight Reads

It’s an ongoing fear of mine. I’m standing in front of a crowd holding a novel—I’ve just done a reading and now hands shoot into the air. They have questions—questions about my story that I don’t want to answer.

They want to know which character I am.

They want to know which horrible thing happened to me.

I want you to close your eyes and think back on your favorite books. I can list mine off the top of my head. The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The list goes on and on—now you’re trying to figure out what these books have in common. All of them deal with hard issues—and the best fiction does.

When I finished The Fault in our Stars, I thought I’d never be the same. My heart was torn out and stomped into nothing. It made me think. It made me appreciate. I cried for days. There were moments of sheer brilliance in that book, some of them quiet and beautiful, others loud and energetic. All of them heartbreaking. All of them.

Clockwork Princess. You’re wondering why this is on my list. Didn’t it have a happy ending? Yes. It had a very happy ending, but it explored things that are so important to me. Cassie has a way of portraying friendships between males that you don’t see in fiction. Beautiful love for one another that would be scorned in the real world. It makes me hopeful. It makes me cry. It makes me want to be a better writer.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Where to begin with how epic this novel is? It explores drugs. Suicide. Self-harm. Homophobia. Discrimination. Molestation. Sex. First love. The bittersweet taste of hope and second chances.

Writing is not a dissociative process. I find myself steeped in my stories. I cry when I write. I laugh. I let go. (And sometimes I just write for fun—I mean, we can’t be angst filled all the time.)

So often authors are afraid to step outside their comfort zone. There’s a scene coming up in my current work in progress where a girl finds her father after he’s killed himself. I initially wrote this story a long time ago—back before life turned me upside down. To tell you the truth, I’ve delayed rewriting this story because of that one scene. I picture it in my head and I’m terrified. I know exactly how it looks—how it smells. I know the sound her hands make in the blood. I know that she will never be the same. I know that she will always ask what if?

And then I cry.

For so long I told myself that I couldn’t do it. I had to let the story go because I couldn’t bring myself to write this scene that had become so close to me.

Now I’m looking forward to it. That sounds macabre, I know, but it’s not for the reason you think. The suicide, the horror, it’s something that I need to let go of, and when I put it on paper, I’m releasing it into the world. And if I share it with thousands of people, maybe each of them will take a tiny piece of the burden.

I know I have to write it—and I know it will hurt.

There are authors who refuse to write about rape or drugs or teenage sex or death. They skirt reality as if it doesn’t exist. But if we lie in our writing—if we pretend that real issues aren’t there—what are we really accomplishing? Lying in writing is lying to yourself. If you aren’t emotionally involved, you’re doing it wrong.

Sometimes writing a scene is so hard that I have to walk away.

You have to write the hard stuff. You have to face the fear of the unknown—that’s where the good is, that’s where the things you say will affect people. If your writing starts to scare you—if you find yourself questioning your sanity and wondering how you found these awful things inside of you—you’ve found where you need to be. Write. Let it out. Feel lucky that you have an outlet.

My words are like scars. I see them and I remember. Sometimes they still hurt. Sometimes I see them and I smile, because at least I had the courage to show them to you.

If you haven’t heard by now, I’m working for the fabulous Sucker Literary. My very first project? THIS BLOG TOUR!

Welcome to the very first Sucker Blog Tour – I’m so excited to bring you an interview with Founder/Editor Hannah Goodman. Let me tell you from working with this woman – she is a force to be reckoned with! She is taking the Young Adult Genre by storm and letting fledgling authors have their say in a very tight, and often unforgiving, market.

You started Sucker after searching the market and finding it lacking in YA. How is Sucker different from what’s out there?

Sucker Literary is the only literary anthology that focuses on YA short fiction ONLY. It is also the only literary anthology out there that includes images with stories. Sucker Literary is the only literary enterprise comprised of an all volunteer staff, including marketing and website design and development and has a staff who functions in multiple capacities including writing. From the quality of the writing and the publication to the way we function as a staff, there really isn’t anything out there like us

Ideally, where is Sucker five years from now?

An entity in the publishing world that is larger than just a publication.

Sucker has a mentor process for submissions. How does this work?

I field the submissions to our readers. Then our staff of 25 plus readers must fill out feedback sheets, which include whether or not a piece should be accepted, rejected, or mentored. Then they send those back to me, and I read EVERY SINGLE one. How long does that take? Depends on the 900 other things I have to do. But I always make time for Sucker!

I have a day job, my own writing, and a family with two kids under ten. SUCKER LITERARY is my labor of love, but in order for it to happen and to happen in the best way possible, each part of the process takes a lot of time : )

Decisions about accepting and mentoring come from initial recommendations (on the feedback sheets) from readers, but ultimately the piece must resonate with me. This part of the process also takes some time and cannot be rushed because I want to publish the VERY best work from emerging writers of short form YA fiction.

Once final decisions are made regarding pieces, notes and feedback sheets are given to the folks we have agreed to mentor or accept. And they, like all of us on staff, have lives filled with many other responsibilities. I do not like to rush their process of revising. So that part of the process can take more weeks or months. Revising can also take a round or two and so add a few more weeks or months onto that. Once revisions are completed, well, that’s a whole other timeline and blog entry!

The folks we agree to mentor are given 1-2 rounds of notes and revisions. Sometimes a piece doesn’t come together in these 1-2 rounds. Those folks sometimes are invited to resubmit with further revisions for the next reading period. But other times, it’s time to part ways. Rejecting those folks is very hard. Sometimes they do submit again, and they still haven’t gotten the piece where it needs to be. My least favorite thing to do is tell them no. . . again. But I provide reasons why and also encouragement to keep going because sometimes it’s just not a perfect fit and they can go elsewhere and find a home for the piece.

I’m a teacher by trade. Our writers, even those whose pieces we accept, go through revisions. The difference between a piece that’s accepted for publication and a piece that makes it to the mentoring round but not to publication has to do with foundation of the story. If a story has plot holes or under developed characters after 2 rounds of revisions, then it’s not ready to be published.

Sucker seems like a “brand name,” what kinds of stories fit the Sucker brand?

Edgy, sassy, humorous, intelligent, bold, colorful, thought provoking, engaging.

Perks of Being a Wallflower is a good example of contemporary fiction that we like. Feed by M.T. Anderson for the dystopian genre. Carolyn Mackler’s novels are the kinds of romances we like. But don’t think that’s all. I am pretty open to anything. Just take a look at our first two volumes.

As the editor, what is the most challenging part of publishing Sucker?

My day job! Translated: TIME

Publishing is a lot of “who you know,” who’s on Sucker’s Most Wanted list? (Who do you want to notice Sucker?)

Carolyn Mackler

John Green

Stephen Chbosky

Erica Lorraine Scheidt

Just to name a few.

What advice can you give rejected writers?

It’s cliché but true: don’t give up. Also, each rejection brings you a step closer to the right fit in terms of agent or publisher.

How does the upcoming Sucker Volume Three differ from Volume Two?

I’ll tell you when I finish making decisions about submissions. So far, it’s pushing the edge a little bit more than volume 2.

Open Door Day is coming up, what’s that all about?

24 hours of opening the “doors” to submissions for volume 3. No mentoring and no feedback. Send your very very best.

Running a literary magazine is hard work, what keeps you coming back for more?

Insanity. An electric impulse to create and make things grow.

Include anything else you want-

I love you, Kacey!!!!! And my entire staff and all supporters!!!!! (She really said that! I swear!)

Hannah Goodman is a YA author represented by Erzsi Deàk of Hen&ink Literary Studio. Her YA novels have won awards and garnered praise but her proudest endeavor is Sucker Literary. She owns The Write Touch, offering a variety of services for clients of all ages. Hannah is a member of SCBWI as well as a graduate of the Solstice MFA program at Pine Manor College. She resides in Bristol, RI with her husband, two daughters, and three cats: Lester, Maisey, and Judy. More about Hannah can be found on her website: hannahrgoodman.com

Now for Sucker Literary, Volume 2!

When Alex’s bandmates invite a girl to sing lead, a battle of the sexes becomes a battle over something unexpected. . . A girl tells her friend about hooking up with longtime crush Fred, but his kisses are not what makes that night in his car memorable. . . A therapy session with Doug might just make Jason go insane again. . . Wallflower Aubrey hooks up with Gordon after the cast party, which would be fine if he weren’t the most forbidden fruit of them all…Savannah certainly doesn’t sound like a convict’s name, so maybe hanging out with her isn’t all that dangerous. Miki is committed to getting over Dex, yet she can’t get him off her answering machine—or her doorstep. In between puffs of cigarettes and attempts to smear lipstick on her face, Allie’s grandmother dishes out advice that maybe Allie should take. . . And finally, what’s a girl to do with Satan as both her boss and father? Nine short stories pose the questions we obsess over whether we’re growing up or all grown up: Who should I love? Am I doing the right thing? Is there ever an end to heartbreak? In its second volume, SUCKER continues to showcase the very best emerging talent in young adult literature and give (some of) the answers to Life’s Big Questions along the way.

Sounds great, right? Because it IS!

Get Sucker in all these places:

Sucker Free Day is July 20th and 21st. Get a FREE digital copy of Sucker Literary Volume 2 on Amazon.

Sucker is looking for more short stories for Volume 3. Get the details for Open Door Day (August 1, 2013): HERE.

Don’t be a Sucker, follow our tour:

July 1^st – Kacey Vanderkarr

Featuring Sucker founder:

Hannah Goodman

July 3^rd – Stephanie Keyes

Featuring Sucker author:

Ann Karasinski

July 5^th – Lisa Voisin

Featuring Sucker author: Paul Heinz

and an excerpt from Sucker

Literary Volume 2

July 7^th – Vincent Morrone

July 8^th – Book Reviews by Dee

Featuring an interview with Sucker author: Claudia Classon

July 9^th – Write All the Words

Featuring Sucker author:

Josh Prokopy

July 10^th – Living Fictitiously

Featuring an interview with Sucker author: Suzanne Kamata

and an excerpt and giveaway of Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 12^th – Tanya’s Book Nook

Featuring an excerpt, giveaway, and review of Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 14 – Catrina Beeny

Featuring Sucker author:

Kelly Samuels and an excerpt from Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 15^th – Three Book Reviewers

Featuring an excerpt from

Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 18^th – Living a Fictional Reality

Featuring a review of Sucker

Literary Volume 2

July 20^th – Brooke Blogs

Featuring a review of Sucker

Literary Volume 2

July 21^st – Page Flipperz YA

July 24^th – Cellar Door Books

Featuring Sucker author:

Aida Zilelian and a review of Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 26^th – Martha Allard

Featuring Sucker author: Candi Fite

July 29^th – We Do Write

Featuring an excerpt from

Sucker Literary Volume 2

July 30^th – Justine Manzano

Featuring Sucker founder: Hannah Goodman and Sucker Social Media Director: Kacey Vanderkarr

July 31^st – Kacey Vanderkarr

Featuring Sucker author:

Mima Tipper

Thank you Hannah and Sucker. It feels great to be a part of something so wonderful.

All the best,

Kacey

Kacey Vanderkarr

Young Adult Author

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WHY YOU HAVE TO WRITE THE HARD STUFF

SUCKER BLOG TOUR – DAY 1 – INTERVIEW WITH HANNAH GOODMAN