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DC-area children’s literature professionals since 1945
SPEAKER SERIES
November 21, 2024
Bus Boys & Poets
It’s the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine: Why Character, Consequence, and Reaction are Necessary for Conflict and Tension
Everyone knows a good story, whether for children or adults, requires conflict and tension. But many are unclear on where it really comes from. It’s not the seriousness of the situation that causes conflict--it's the circumstances of the character. A conflict only works if it acts upon the protagonist in a negative way. That's why a children's book about a character desperate to pass their math test can generate every bit as much conflict and tension as a big screen thriller. This talk will address the true origins of conflict and tension, and how they emerge specifically from a character’s reaction and the consequences they face.
Three things this presentation will teach you are:
1.) That conflict is defined by the obstacles standing in the way of a particular character achieving her wants and needs. A character whose wants and needs have not been defined cannot experience genuine conflict.
2.) That tension is a lot like an acrobat on a tightrope. Walking one foot above the ground takes no less skill than walking one hundred feet above the ground, but the latter is a lot more exciting. Tension emerges when your character has a long way to fall.
3.) That a character’s reaction to negative events is essential in order for readers genuinely to feel it themselves. Character reaction signals the severity of the conflict.
Bio:
Developmental editor Harrison Demchick came up in the world of small press publishing and along the way has worked on more than 80 published novels and memoirs, including YA and middle grade books and series like The Young Inventors Guild, The Paragon, and The Leopard Behind the Moon. An expert as well in literary, commercial, and speculative fiction, Harrison is known for writing quite possibly the most detailed and informative editorial letters in the industry—if not the entire universe. As an author, his work includes literary horror novel The Listeners (Bancroft Press, 2012) and short fiction like "Rent Control" (Speculative City, 2024). He's also an award-winning screenwriter whose short film The Farmhouse won Best Horror at Austin After Dark in 2023 and whose children-oriented short screenplay Shipping and Handling won the 2024 Baltimore Screenwriters Competition.
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IN CONVERSATION WITH BARBARA DEE
Barbara Dee Writes Realistic Fiction: Talks with Guild About Best Practicesby Amy HansenWriting realistic fiction about issues important to middle school students requires research, but Barbara Dee said she has to be careful, because the research can be both enticing and never ending. Barbara, author of 14 award-winning books including Maybe He Just Likes You and Star-Crossed, spoke to about 30 members of CBG at Busboys and Poets on K Street on October 17. Using a Q&A format, Barbara with Guild member Jason King (President and CEO, Turning the Page) and walked through her best practices in several different aspects of writing. Researching, she discovered, could be all-consuming. So by the time she wrote Violets are Blue (published, 2016), which included discussions of special effects make-up, she learned to research as needed.Still, the beginning of the book process continues to take an in-depth approach where she has conversations with parents, counselors, and students. "The conversations are crucial," she said, explaining she gets details that she couldn't have dreamed up. When writing Halfway Normal about a cancer-survivor, one student told her about going back to school bald. "She lobbied her mom to be allowed to wear dangly earrings." That detail made it into the book, helping the story to feel real. "Nothing can replace that kind of interaction."While not a series, Barbara’s books all address difficult topics, such as a brother having a mental health breakdown (My Life in a Fish Bowl), climate change (Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet), and sexual harassment (Maybe He Just Likes You). These are issues that touch the lives of many readers even when they're not talking about them."Writing about so-called tough topics brings things up to the surface and allows [the readers] to have conversations. It allows kids to acknowledge their fears and gives them a place to start talking," she explained.Through Jason’s questions, Barbara also addressed her proposal process (she writes a 3,000 word synopsis) and the editing process (she uses feedback from her adult daughter and her agent before turning the manuscript in to her editor). Audience members and Barbara lamented the changes in the market in the last five or so years including a decrease in the number of professional review publications, as well as a decrease in the brick and mortar bookstores. All of Barbara Dee’s books are published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster.The next Children's Book Guild meeting is Nov. 21 at Busboys and Poets.
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