Katiaesque

  • Back from Residency: The Wondrous Magic of Wonderland

    I am back! I am back! I am back!  Totally wiped out, and yet, at the same time, it feels as though the well is filled to the brim, spilling with magic. Ready to face my final VCFA semester. I think. 🙂 A bit nervous at the prospects of working with one of the most intriguing,…

    Katia Raina

  • Words, Words, Words

     What are stories made of? The answers are many: characters, setting, plot, theme, ideas, emotions. But underneath it all, we writers forget sometimes, don’t we? That first and foremost, stories are made of words. In this post, I would like to explore the storytellers’ most basic building material: language. According to the American Heritage College…

    Katia Raina

  • Things Don’t Just Happen: On Cause and Effect, In Fiction Anyway

    Do you believe in serendipity? Happy coincidences shaping your life? Do things just happen to you? Or has a chain of decisions and actions brought you to where you are today? A combination of both? Randomness may have a place in real life from time to time — and even that we could argue about. But…

    Katia Raina

  • Assassins, Not Liars

    “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” Stephen King (On Writing) The name of my Vermont College of Fine Arts class is Darling Assassins. I will confess: when we were deciding on a name during the summer residency of 2013, I spoke up against it. I…

    Katia Raina

  • Writing Out of Order

    Yikes, it’s really been a while! Sorry!!! This post may not be a revelation to many writers out there, but the following idea was quite a discovery for me: writing out of order. Sure, I’ve heard about it before. Somehow, I always thought this method was reserved for wizards and other super-human types. 🙂 I thought my boring brain was…

    Katia Raina

  • Lucy Christopher: How She Writes

    Finally, I give you the long-promised post on Lucy Christopher’s fascinating writing process. Lucy shared this talk at the last Vermont College of Fine Arts residency, and I am posting it here with her permission. (Thank you, Lucy!) Lucy is a British and Australian author of three books for young readers. In her controversial first novel, Stolen, a Printz Honor…

    Katia Raina

  • VCFA Discoveries: Know Yourself! (and More)

    Okay, time to reveal the latest from the January 2014 Vermont College of Fine Arts Writing for Children and Young Adults residency. Yes, it’s time. I know. Don’t look at me like that. I’ve been busy. 😉 I still am, so let me jump right in! These are the lessons and discoveries that stuck with me, synthesized from…

    Katia Raina

  • An Honest Promise of a Great Beginning

    With 2013 winding down, the New Year is almost upon us. I figure this is a pretty good time to talk about beginnings. Well, it’s my excuse, anyway! In a way I have been investigating beginnings my entire first year in VCFA — both through my critical and creative work. After two semesters, 100+ books…

    Katia Raina

  • HOW DID THEY DO THAT? Learning From The Best

    So I am about halfway through the Writing For Children And Young Adults program now — another year to go! — and last week I wrote my last Vermont College of Fine Arts essay. The realization makes me feel surprisingly wistful. The essays, anywhere from 3 to 10 pages long, were meant to help us tackle…

    Katia Raina

  • The Hardest Homework

    I am smack in the middle of my second VCFA semester, and, along with a new essay, and the usual reading and writing, my wise teacher gave me the hardest, most impossible homework of all. She told me to stop working. 🙂         Not to stop writing, to stop working. So damn hard. She told me…

    Katia Raina