Write Who You Are with Ellen Hopkins

WRITE WHO YOU ARE: THE VALUE OF AUTHENTICITY 

Ellen Hopkins is the award-winning author of twenty nonfiction books for young readers, fourteen New York Times best-selling YA verse novels, two middle grade verse novels, and four novels for adult readers.

Ellen shares a bit of her own personal story being adopted, and we get the treat of hearing from her upcoming book FINDING OLIVIA which includes impressions from her experience. 

Sit down with this as Ellen gives us different exercises to explore who we are to use in our own work. 

*The idea is to just job down impressions. 

Starting with OUR FAMILIES. List your family members. What comes to mind? Jot down the impressions, sensory details (scent, taste, sound). Take a few minutes for each.

Then follow with:

Where you grew up

Your schools

Places you've lived

Places you've visited (What about those places standout in your mind? Ellen notes that it's hard to write about a place you've never been.)

Activities/Hobbies

Sports/Games

Vehicles

Music/TV/Movies

Take all of those impressions and write an I AM poem. (Writing an I AM poem is an exercise you can find in THE WRITE TO READ by Leslie Roessing.) 

Ellen shares her I AM poem with us, with all of her wonderful sensory and specific details (generated from this exercise) which show us an amazingly full view of who she is, impressions she infuses into her work. And, Ellen has generously allowed me to share the poem here. It will give you a great example of the kind of impressions she pulled from the exercise. Thank you, Ellen.

Introduction

by Ellen Hopkins

I am the daughter of ambition,

the mother of addiction,

the guardian of outcomes

of choices poorly made.

I am chin stubble met with a straight

razor. Skin Bracer, pipe tobacco, Irish Spring. 

Weekend Johnny Walker Black. Church

every Sunday. A deep freeze stuffed

with venison, beef. Mama’s fried chicken. 

Tide scented sheets, snapping dry

on the clothesline beneath an olive tree.

Stories read out loud every night before bed.

I am the Owl & the Pussycat,

Great Expectations, Treasure Island.

Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.

Lou Grant. Mash. Cheers. The X Files.

Sound of Music. Butch Cassidy. A Clockwork Orange.

A Day in the Life. Bohemian Rhapsody. Dark Side of the Moon.

I am literature, theater, choir, piano, dance.

Self-taught. Well taught. I am educated.

I am Lamaze, breastmilk, fresh blender

baby food. Miscarriage. Ectopic loss.

Parent teacher conferences. Lessons.

Little League. Soccer. Blue ribbons.

Report cards. Kidnapping. Reunion. Disabilities.

I am palms. Pines. Citrus and sequoias.

Mist and sun showers, filtering down

through cedar canopies. Live oaks

and alfalfa, wine grapes and prune plums,

hot and sticky sweet when summer smiles.

I am freeway. Highway. Byway. Bike path.

Snow to shovel. Wood to stack. Soil to turn.

I am granite cheeked mountains. Pacific coast

melodies. The low glow of high desert wetlands

beneath the thunder of wild horse feet.

I am grumbling trains. Listing covered bridges. 

Windmills that turn for no reason. Waterfall

plunge, geyser liftoff, a rift in the face of the earth. 

Breeze blown canals, tulip mosaics, castles 

and harbor bridges. Spire, glacier, and sand.

I am rodeo. Gymkhana. Horse shows. 

Bareback excursions that last all day.

German shepherds, teddy bear puppies.

I am hoeing, growing, weeding. Encouraging

bees and butterflies. Tomatoes and salsa. 

Cucumbers, pickles. Pies and bread from scratch. 

I am in the zone, on pavement and trail.

Dropping over the cornice, air beneath skis.

I am Say Hey Candlestick, PacBell Posey.

Football scorekeeper, riding the team bus.

Monopoly in front of the woodstove, 

snow buzzing against the windows.

Yahtzee by lantern light, with smores, 

lukewarm cocoa, hotter toddies. 

I am enduro maneuvers, quads over boulders.

Cross country van trips, solo.

Downshifting the big block, going eighty. 

Never looking in the rearview mirror.

I am word weaver. Life giver. Caretaker. 

Lover. Partner. Hands that blanket pain.

The LGBTQ + Allies Social

An intimate circle, the group included conference faculty guests Laurent Linn, Emma Dryden, Ellen Hopkins, Jane Yolen, Heidi Stemple, Jeffrey West, Arthur Levine, and Erika Turner.

We went around the circle, everyone introducing themselves and sharing what they're working on that has LGBTQ characters and themes, sparking lots of discussion.

Standout moments:

Ellen Hopkins on why she includes LGBTQ characters in her novels: "I write the teen landscape." And how the current political and cultural climate makes it "more important than ever" that we're here talking about LGBTQ characters and themes in books for young people.

Emma Dryden on how agents are telling her that they're looking for manuscripts in which gay is incidental...

Which lead to a broad discussion on how we need all kinds of books on the LGBTQ experience, books that star the LGBTQ character and books where they're part of the ensemble, books where it's about the LGBTQ experience, and books where it's about something else entirely and the characters' identity is incidental.

Laurent Lin spoke about visiting schools via the Lambda Literary Foundations Authors in Schools program,

The conversation covered controversy and backlash, the responsibility we have to our readers, and so much more!

Jane Yolen speaking with attendee David Daniel after the circle opened to more informal discussion 

Cynthia Leitich-Smith & Ellen Hopkins Workshop

Ellen Hopkins and Cynthia Leitich-Smith are two brilliant New York Times bestselling authors who teamed up to give a workshop on a pair of related topics: How to Write about Difficult Subjects and Writing Within & Across Identity Elements.

Cynthia started us off with a definition: writing diverse books is about telling the stories of underrepresented people and cultures.

There are lots of questions about who can write what, as well as lots of concerns about the writing itself: the authenticity, cultural appropriation, single stories, and more.

Can books harm and help children? What about artistic expression and censorship?

It's an urgent question as the country grows measurably more diverse. Fifty-one percent of children in the United States today are people of color. And this doesn't even take into account the more kinds of diversity, including disability, cultural, and class.

Cynthia said there has been progress. There has been an expansion of nonfiction topics, and in fictions, we're seeing retellings, historical fiction, and contemporary books with social justice themes. Speculative fiction often has diverse characters.

Her advice on the inevitable criticism. "No matter what you write, not everyone will love it... be diligent, thoughtful, and courageous."

We should focus on creating respectful portrayals, not romanticized or idealized ones.

How do we do this? "If you're not an own voices author, read at least 100 books by members of that community before writing one."

There are tough questions to ask. Here are some Cyn gave us:

• Have you done your homework? (Read a lot.)
• Is the character stock or a stereotype? A Mexican-american maid? A white soccer mom? This limits you, though stock characters can be useful.
• Is my character "exotic" and framed exclusively in terms of ancestral belief system? Are the black teacher and and Mexican neighbor the only ones described by the color of their skin? This centers whiteness. 
• Your characters shouldn't be excuses for two-dimensional social studies lessons.

She also gave advice on working with experts to help us get our work as good as it can be: Be nice. Include multiple voices. Listen. Do not use sources or readers' names without permission.

She encouraged us to support and encourage new and your voices and support diversity in big and small ways.

Ellen Hopkins, who regularly writes about difficult subjects, told us stories of emails she's received from readers, including one whose mom started pimping her out when she was a 10-year-old. Her writing resonates so much with readers that she gets as many as 200 messages a day from them.

"If you take one thing away from this, never...self censor. Write the story you think needs to be told the way you think it should be told."

Her books are regularly censored, but she writes the hard stories for the kids who desperately need them. Her son is gay and 40 years old, and he came out to her when she was 12. And it was a really hard time for kids to come out. Her book CRANK has a gay character because that's a truth to her. You have to write what's true. Create real, live, multi-layered characters.

We were fortunate to hear her read from her work, which is raw, emotional, and unflinching. She's created this through her own life, through research like spending time with young prostitutes, by eavesdropping and observing others closely. This is how you make characters special, by knowing aware of the details.

Creating these characters is important for readers who are like them, but also for the readers who aren't, because this is what helps people understand the whys, for example, why a child with PTSD might lash out.

The LGBTQ + Allies Q&A Social

With an expanding circle as more and more people arrived, and with special guests that included Ellen Hopkins, Heidi Stemple, Laurent Linn, Ellen Wittlinger, Matthew Winner, and Arthur Levine, the social opened with a conversation about the responsibilities and challenges of speaking up about diversity, equality, human rights, and politics as people who create content for children.

Then each person around the circle introduced themselves, sharing what they're working on.

And then, for another hour +, people mingled and chatted and exchanged cards with their new tribe-within-a-tribe friends.

Two moments that are still resonating for me:

On an Ally author's reluctance to make a fantasy character queer:
"I want to give you permission that you know as much about a two-headed dragon as anyone." - Arthur A. Levine.

"Don't let anyone shut you up. You have a story to tell. Tell it. ...Somewhere along the way, children will hear it and they will be saved." - Jane Yolen

The evening was brave and beautiful.

Ellen Hopkins: Keep Your Eyes on the Real Prize

Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins is a poet and the award-winning author of eleven New York Times best-selling young adult novels-in-verse and three adult novels. Her twelfth YA is Traffik (McElderry Books, November, 2015) and her third adult novel, Tangled, was released spring 2015. She is a current an SCBWI Board member. http://www.ellenhopkins.com

Ellen shares that 15 years ago, she was sitting in the audience like we are. She'd written and published 20 nonfiction titles, and tells us the drive behind writing CRANK, her novel in verse that broke out and made her career.

Maybe as a way to give meaning to her pain, and maybe as a way to prevent others from experiencing the same pain.

She wanted to reach readers, not get awards.

When Crank was published by Simon & Schuster in 2004 (with a very modest advance) Ellen had to figure out how to get the book into people's hands. She responded to every email and message she received from readers -- and still does. She plugged into the community on Myspace (the social media platform at the time), and when her 3rd YA novel in verse was publicized on their home page, it took off. It became a New York Times bestseller, which then led to the first two becoming best sellers as well.

She's telling us about how her journey has progressed, with success and travel and family and through it all, working on her books. Touring with great authors. Books doing well. Book challenges. Author challenges, too. writing, revising, copy edits, short stories, social media 2 hours of every day. Readers taking senior photos with her books and tattooing her words on their bodies.

And when things got really tough in her life, one of the things that got her through was the readers who kept contacting her and telling her how much her writing meant to them.

She challenges us to consider our current goals - is it awards, bestseller lists, or is it relationships with readers, teachers, librarians, editorial teams, and publishing houses.

If we can make a living from our art, that is living the dream.

But we need to remember our readers: they are why we are here.

Keep your eyes on the real prize. Making a positive difference in kids' lives with our books.

The audience gives Ellen a standing ovation!

The LGBTQ Q&A

Joining me and legendary editor Emma Dryden, best-Selling author Ellen Hopkins, art director and debut YA author Laurent Linn, and agent Danielle Smith, about 30 writers and illustrators (including conference attendee and Sid Fleischman and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Bill Konigsberg!) gathered in a large circle to share our questions about and discuss our projects that include Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning characters and themes.

We started out in a circle

As always, it was a safe space with lots of shared encouragement and mutual support.

Some highlights:

"Write bravely because it's going to matter to somebody. ...We have kids who need these books. Still!"
- Ellen Hopkins

"There is a need and a want" for these books with LGBTQ characters and themes, in publishing houses, "and readers who need these books."
- Laurent Linn

"The biggest tool against generalization is characterization. ...We are all more than our gender identification... Gender is not enough. Sexuality is not enough. Go deeper..."
- Arthur A. Levine

on why Ellen's books are successful... "These books are dealing with how kids would really feel in these situations. But if it's not on the page, kids are going to think you're lying to them."

"The question is not what hasn't been done, but what haven't I done?"
- Bill Konigsberg

Both Arthur and Danielle spoke of how in today's publishing environment, having LGBTQ characters and themes are something they cite as a positive about a project, something that helps them in selling/publishing a project.

And spent time meeting and greeting each other

And we'll let Arthur have the final word for this post:

"There's never been a more receptive environment for publishing LGBTQ characters and issues."
- Arthur A. Levine

Member of the Year 2014: Ellen Hopkins

This year's Member of the Year award goes to Ellen Hopkins.

This awarded is given to someone who has served the SCBWI in a enormous capacity. Ellen has certainly done exactly that. She has served for many year's as one of Nevada's Regional Advisors and she continues to sit on the SCBWI board.

Her dedication to the industry, this organization, and to her teen readers is unparalleled.

Congratulations, Ellen. This a much deserved honor.

The LGBTQ Q&A

Once again, it was my honor to host the LGBTQ Chat - a discussion of including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning characters and themes in works for children and teens.

Faculty members Jane Yolen, Emma Dryden and Ellen Hopkins spoke and answered attendee questions as we travelled around the circle and people shared what they were working on.

Emma shared some great market and story advice, and each of our faculty were encouraging - a true safe space. Some highlights and moments from our wonderful session:

Jane Yolen: "There's nothing off the table when you're writing a novel… if you do it well.  And then you set a new benchmark."

Ellen Hopkins: "Books don't create queers. The just offer empathy and understanding to that space."

And Ellen's call to action for us all to write the stories we need to write are still resonating:

"Be fearless!"

Ellen Hopkins: Banning Books - Where Do We Stand?

The extremely accomplished Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins is the bestselling author of eight novels for young adults.

She's also written more than 20 nonfiction books, as well as a couple of adult novels.

Ellen is no stranger to controversy when it comes to book content. In 2010, she was the most-challenged author in the United States.

Her books about tough contemporary issues such as drug use and prostitution have been frequently challenged. She fights back vigorously, knowing from personal experience how vital some of these topics are for young readers to encounter in books. Eighteen years ago, her daughter tried drugs, and has struggled ever since. Sadly, Ellen reported that her daughter returned to prison today, and Ellen has become the guardian to her three young grandchildren.

Ellen has made it her mission to show the consequences of these painful decisions in literature. She writes books to change lives in a positive way.

"I was damn well determined if I was going to turn one kid away from that path, I was going to do it," Ellen said. "We write for our readers. We know who we're writing for. We know where they're living."

"If it's offensive to some parent, I don't care," she said. Books can help kids who've experienced traumas like sexual assault understand that they're not alone. 

She urged all of us writers to tell the truth, no matter what type of story we write. "That's your job as an author, and we will stand behind you." 

The LGBTQ Q&A

Once again it was my honor to host the Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender and Queer Question and Answer Event!

Our conference faculty attending as special guests were editor Arthur A. Levine, editor Emma Dryden, author Kristin Venuti, agent Tracey Adams and author Ellen Hopkins.

We had over fifty conference attendees attend, and the questions and conversation covered a range including:

Writing the "other"
Post-gay (post-trauma) stories
The need for editors, agents and authors to go outside our comfort zones

There was a lot of discussion about recognizing that when you write an LGBTQ character, that's not the sum total of them as a person.  It's part of who they are.  And you need to write the other parts, too.

As Emma Dryden said so eloquently,

"Stop thinking about them as queer and just think of them as people."

It was a wonderful gathering, and many attendees stayed around afterwards to mingle and socialize (Which was when I remembered to take these photos!)

LGBTQ&A

Since 2008, SCBWI has hosted an invaluable LGBTQ&A at their national conferences.  Hosted by Lee Wind (I’m here. I’m queer. What the hell do I read?), the LGBTQ&A is a great place for writers and illustrators to talk with editors, agents, and authors about issues and the current market for stories with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming or questioning youth characters and themes. 

Left to Right: Bruce Coville, Jane Yolen, Lee Wind, Michael Strother and Ellen Hopkins

This year the panel was honored to welcome Jane Yolen, (author of over 300 books for children and teens), Bruce Coville, Ellen Hopkins, and editor Michael Strother. In the opening remarks, Jane was asked about her book SISTER LIGHT, SISTER DARK where she offered insights into the matriarchal society in the story. She was followed by Bruce Coville who when talking about AM I BLUE? said that some people didn’t think humor had a place in LGBTQ. But Bruce pointed out that laughter could be an entry point on the topic.

It was a great segue into Ellen Hopkins’s comments about normalizing through books. There was a heart wrenching moment when she talked about the struggle of some kids and teens, about suicide and depression because of bullying or confusion or lack of acceptance. And Ellen said that until we get to a place where kids are no longer killing themselves, we as authors need to keep writing about LGBTQ topics. Normalizing through books. 

The panel got into a discussion on craft, and Jane told the attendees that their characters should come about organically. Let them tell you their story. Michael, an editor at Simon Pulse, told the group that it’s important that their characters have other attributes, and that they’re not just gay. Make them real, fleshed-out people. 

Towards the end, a great Q&A session helped the large group of attendees get specific answers to their writing questions. It was comfortable and exciting, and writers and illustrators were able to stay after to talk privately with the panel. 

For more information and book recommendations, visit:

Lee Wind's Blog

Rainbow List

LGBTQ&A

Hosted by Team Blog's Lee Wind, the LGBTQ&A was an inspiring event that brought together a group of writers/illustrators to discuss the market for LGBTQ literature. This time Lee welcomed editors Alvina Ling and TS Ferguson, agent Jen Laughran, and special guest Ellen Hopkins.

The panel discussed some of their favorite books with LGBTQ themes or characters. They also had a candid discussion about the lack of submissions with diversity. TS, Alvina and Jen all said they would LOVE to see more submissions with LGBTQ characters and themes. Although any book has to be well-written, having diverse characters could only add to their interest level.

(Some of their favorites)

Ellen Hopkins spoke to the group about the responsibility she feels as an author to the teens she writes for. She said that we're all here together--not as gay or straight--but as human beings. She urged authors to "write bravely."


The session ended with a great mixer as attendees began to discuss their own favorite books, and the lively conversation really topped off the evening. The first time conference goers were excited about the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences with such a respected panel, and with each other.


Be sure to join the next LGBTQ session in LA at the annual summer conference!

My Experience at the Ellen Hopkins Writers Intensive: Writing Novels In Verse

Every one of Ellen Hopkins' seven young adult novels in verse have hit the New York Times Bestseller lists, and there's a reason - they're powerful, compelling, and masterful. Every word seems perfectly chosen. Every poem is laid out on the page in a way that draws you in and then beyond the words. Every character is bared through their mind's lens.

And you can't stop reading because you have to know what happens next.

I didn't enter Ellen's intensive thinking 'I want to write a novel in verse,' but Ellen achieves intensely powerful emotions and her stories grab you and don't let go - and she does it with such economy and artistry. I had to see what I could learn, and then apply, to my own writing.

With worksheets and examples from her own work, she guided us through exercises that pulled out of us things about our characters that we'd never before considered. A few attendees read their poems out loud after the writing, and the level of accomplishment across the room was inspiring.

For one of the exercises, I re-worked the opening scene of my current MG work in progress, taking it from prose to verse. It was magical. Excess detail and repetition fell away, and character motivations leapt forward. The scene had so much more emotion and impact this way.

I raised my hand to share. As I read, the words felt so right. Spare, and still funny. Filled with emotion and conflict. So much more what I was hoping for. I was heartened by the laughter (in all the right places) and the kind encouragement from Ellen and my fellow workshop participants.

Now, I'm inspired to dive into my rewrite with this new way of telling my characters' story. Will it become a novel in verse? I'm not sure, but I do know that for me, this workshop was a huge creative breakthrough.

Thank you, Ellen. And thanks SCBWI for giving me - and the rest of the class - this incredible opportunity!

Ellen Hopkins on Voice: HOT TIP!

The Goal of writing YA:

It's not to tell us a story, but to let us experience a story.

Posted by Lee Wind

Ellen Hopkins on VOICE!

The official Title of this breakout session is "The Not So Mysterious Teen Voice: Like Totally Not OMG!!!"

Ellen's first sentence:

Every teen is so different, it's hard to tell you what is "teen voice"

Ellen's telling us that she gets around 300 twitter tweets, myspace messages and facebook messages and friend requests across all these social media a day from teens.

She's reading a selection of them, asking us to imagine what the message senders look like.



Ellen's advice includes this gem:

Create your characters first, and understand their realms of experience, and then you'll have their voices.

Create your characters first, and then you can figure out your plot.

Plot needs to flow from characters.

If you don't do it in that order, then like happens to Ellen, your characters will wake you up and say "You know, I wouldn't do that."

Ellen spends 2 months pre-writing her books, creating the characters, figuring out who are their parents, their friends, their realm of experience. And then she layers them, figuring out what's good in their life, and what's bad in their life.

And then the plot flows from knowing all that...

WOW. Ellen is a MASTER at this. The room is glued to her every word, listening to her voice. We're all learning so much...


Posted by Lee Wind

Ellen Hopkins Keynote! The TOP!

Ellen's formula for Success:

Talent + Perseverance + Luck

(A formula in different amounts for different author journeys!)

Ellen's final pieces of advice:

Forget the helicopter.

Expect to work hard and enjoy the work.

Don't make Everest your first climb!

Don't climb alone! (Be part of SCBWI, for instance!)

And find YOUR OWN PATH. (they stories YOU have to tell)

And Ellen's penultimate words, from the summit:

"You are the future of children's publishing. Be a shining light."

Wow!


Posted by Lee Wind

Ellen Hopkins Keynote! Not for the Faint of Heart: The Climb to the Top! The middle...

And then, after her personal family tragedy unfolded, she needed to write about her daughter's addiction- and Ellen needed to find the voice to tell the story.

And here, at the SCBWI LA Conference, in a session with Sonya Sones, Ellen discovered that in

Poetry - in telling a fictional story in a poem, she was able to tap into the emotions of being a Teen.

And she could tell the story she had to write... And she knew how to write it!

"And now I was climbing the mountain for real."

Posted by Lee Wind

Ellen Hopkins Keynote! Not for the Faint of Heart: The Climb to the Top! The early path...

So Ellen's working a metaphor...

not everyone takes a plane or helicopter on the journey up the mountain.

sometimes there are detours and switchback trails... (relationships, children)

Then you're writing, walking on the path...

and then rejections, and entering contests, and freelance writing...

Discovering SCBWI, teaching writing, publishing Non fiction books...

what a journey!

Posted by Lee Wind

Ellen Hopkins Keynote: Not for the Faint of Heart; The Climb to the Top! The start...

Ellen's amazing.

And I guess she's serious about taking us to the top, because she's started the speech with a video of her on a small plane flying over water in New Zealand, looking towards a mountain.

She's had all these adventures...

and it's all because of her writing (she was invited down by the Australia SCBWI!)

Five years ago, before Crank published - she couldn't have imagined what lay in store...



If you missed this keynote, Ellen Hopkins will be the Keynote speaker at the upcoming SCBWI international conference in Bologna, March 22, 2010!

You can check out my pre-conference in-depth interview with Ellen here.

Posted by Lee Wind

Exclusive TEAM BLOG Interview: Ellen Hopkins

Be sure to visit Lee Wind's blog today to read his terrific interview with SCBWI Summer Conference keynote speaker Ellen Hopkins.

And be sure to check out all the TEAM BLOG blogger's sites between now and the conference (which starts August 7) for more exclusive interviews, features and scoop. (You can find the TEAM BLOG blogroll on the right of this blog.)

You can still register for the event, full- or part-time. Click here for the registration page.