MFA thoughts: semester 2, packet 3
At VCFA in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program, we have four packets due throughout the semester. The third packet of my second semester is due in two Tuesdays, so next week for me is all about revising and polishing.
My critical essay for the packet is about how writers have to strike a balance when keeping secrets from the reader, especially when it’s the protagonist keeping the secret in first or close third person.
I talk about a lot of books in the essay, but one of the two I take a deep dive into is Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Goodreads tells me I read this back in 2017, and I thought I remembered it better than I do. I’m happily re-reading right now and I’m struck once again (probably) by how masterful it is. I know I’m way late to the party on this one, but if you haven’t read it, YOU SHOULD.
Also in this packet, I have a proposal for my critical thesis (I’ll be working on that next semester), as well as my creative work. I’m taking this semester as an experimenting semester. So far, I’ve tried non-fiction picture books (which I love), and I’d still love to try a short story. The creative work in this packet started out as a chapter book experiment (books for readers 7-11). It morphed into (aka complete re-write) an early middle grade -- books for the younger side of the middle grade age range (8-10) (full range: 8-12). The content and characters in my story all wanted to be a little older.
My story takes a page from my own childhood, when I used to put on plays in the yard with my friends. I used plays that were already written back then, but the kids in my story write their own plays (well, the trying-not-to-be-bossy protagonist writes them). I feel a lot better about the project with this re-write, and I’m excited to see where it goes. I’d like to include the kids’ play at the back of the book, for kids like me who like to follow a script
I love mixed media like this in books. It’s something I’ve known for a long time, though I didn’t know the term for it until I started school. (There are alternate terms, depending on who you’re talking to.) Mixed media books include multiple forms of consumption: story, diary, letters, etc. I love it in what I read and I always like the stories I write to contain that extra layer, because that’s how humans encounter the world.
Stay tuned for my packet dance when it’s all turned in!
