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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE WRITING A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF ONE NON-WRITER’S JOURNEY. A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By KARIN PERRY Norman, Oklahoma 2010 WRITING A YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF ONE NON-WRITER’S JOURNEY. A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC CURRICULUM BY Dr. Michael Angelotti, Chair Dr. Lawrence Baines Dr. Priscilla Griffith Dr. Kathy Latrobe Dr. Courtney Vaughn © Copyright by KARIN PERRY 2010 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people I need to thank for the help they provided during various stages of this dissertation process. First and foremost, I need to be sure my husband understands how much I appreciate being left alone during critical writing periods. It wasn’t easy for him to be ignored, but he somehow found the strength to survive. Next, my friend, Courtney Krieger, has been invaluable during my time in the doctoral program. I will cherish her friendship for years to come. Another important part of my dissertation process was my writing critique group. Even though we laughed throughout most of my critique, I always took away valuable information to incorporate in future revisions. Finally, I’d like to thank Dr. Michael Angelotti and the others on my dissertation committee. Even with your busy schedules, you were always able to block off time when I needed you. I appreciate it. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………….…………………………………………iv ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………...vii CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….1 Figure 1: Death of the Faeries Painting…………………………………………………7 Purpose of the Study…………………………………………………………………….9 Significance of the Study………………………………………………………………..9 Overview of the Procedures of the Study………………………………………………10 Related Literature………………………………………………………………………13 The Writing Process……………………………………………………………………13 Teachers as Writers…………………………………………………………………….15 The Relevance of Young Adult Literature……………………………………………..17 Young Adult Authors’ Writing Processes………………………………………….......19 The Use of a Novel as a Format for Dissertation………………………………………21 Summary………………………………………………………………………………..23 CHAPTER TWO – PLANNING THE NOVEL……………………………………….25 Figure 2: Character Chart Example…………………………………………………….28 Figure 3: Journal Entry About Slade’s Age……………………………………………29 Figure 4: Character Chart Exerpt………………………………………………………29 Figure 5: Twitter Post Breakdown During Planning Stage…………………………….30 Figure 6: Notebook Entry – Brainstorming Character Occupation…………………….31 CHAPTER THREE – DRAFTING THE NOVEL…………………………………….32 Figure 7: Novel Word Count Chart…………………………………………………….32 Figure 8: Screenshot of John Green’s Brotherhood 2.0 Video………………………...33 Figure 9: Away From Home v. Home Graph…………………………………………..35 Figure 10: Away From Home v. Home Word Count Graph………………………...…35 Figure 11: Additions To Outline……………………………………………………….36 Figure 12: Two Chapters Added To Outline During Drafting…………………………37 Figure 13: Moving A Scene To Another Chapter During Drafting……………………37 Figure 14: Moving An Entire Chapter During Drafting……………………………….38 Figure 15: Deleting a Scene During Drafting………………………………………….38 Figure 16: Twitter Category Percentages………………………………………………39 Figure 17: Carrie Ryan’s Manuscript (Revising/Editing Stage)……………………….41 Figure 18: Carrie Ryan’s Twitter Direct Messages…………………………………….42 Figure 19: Rough Draft………………………………………………………………...42 v CHAPTER FOUR – REVISING THE NOVEL……………………………………….43 Figure 20: Comments From My Four Writing Group Members……………………….45 Figure 21: Tense Corrections From Writing Group Member………………………….48 Figure 22: Fantasy Element Critique From Writing Group Member………………….49 Figure 23: Millie’s Weakness Critique From Writing Group Member #1…………….50 Figure 24: Millie’s Weakness Critique From Writing Group Member #2…………….50 Figure 25: Millie’s Weakness Critique From Writing Group Member #3…………….51 Figure 26: Carrie Ryan’s Marked Up Manuscript……………………………………..52 Figure 27: Carrie Ryan’s List of Big Things To Fix…………………………………..53 REFLECTION………………………………………………………………………....54 Figure 28: Pay Phone Comment From Writing Group Member……………………....60 Figure 29: Pay Phone In New York City……………………………………………....61 CHAPTER FIVE – PUBLISHING THE NOVEL…………………………………….62 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………..396 vi ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores the experiences of a self-proclaimed non-writer as she seeks to understand and develop a style of writing. Research is included to support the ideas that teachers of writing should be writers themselves, writer’s, often times, learn from each other, and young adult literature is, indeed, relevant to our society. By using the autobiographical method, the author investigates the significant events of her educational journey and describes the transformation that occurred while writing a young adult novel. The author discovers workable techniques and strategies by monitoring the planning, drafting, and revising stages of the traditional writing process. By telling her story, the author was able to construct meaning for herself, and in turn, provide the information necessary for others to be success during the writing process. vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Before beginning the research portion of this writing experience, I found it important to take a look at my writing past in order to set a benchmark in which to compare my final progress. I was not lucky enough to be like Laurie Halse Anderson and have the knack for storytelling by the second grade. While Anderson never intended to be an author, she knew her stories could make her mother laugh and her sister scream (Macmillon). Young adult authors Cassandra Clare and Neal Shusterman report writing as teens- even though they came to writing in different ways. Clare wrote stories in high school to amuse her friends. She used her love of Jane Austen to inspire her epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” (Clare). Neal Shusterman, on the other hand, was inspired by his ninth-grade English teacher. After seeing his love of writing come out in class, she challenged him to write one story a month for extra credit. “Since I desperately needed extra credit in her class, I took her up on the challenge, and by the end of ninth grade, I really began to feel like a writer. That's when writing emerged above all my other interests as my driving passion” (Shusterman). While not all authors have this kind of beginning, these are the ones that intimidate a “wanna-be” writer - a.k.a. me. Until the beginning of this project, I considered myself a non-writer. As a young person I found myself drawing, coloring, and reading instead of creating my own stories. Writing didn’t enter my life until high school and even then it was a poor attempt at “poetry.” I make it a point to put poetry in quotation marks simply because 1 when I looked back at the writing from that time in my life, the poems seemed more like angry love notes instead of poetry. The poetry samples I kept from my time in high school range from 1986 to 1989. After rereading the poetry in chronological order I noticed that only one major thing changed. While they all focused on heartbreak and love lost it was obvious my tone changed over the years. In 1986, my writing could be categorized as sad and sappy. Below are two examples from my early poems: “Untitled” circa 1986 Someone please tell me what I’ve done wrong We, together used to laugh and sing. It seems like so long so long since you’ve smiled in my direction so long since I’ve looked at you with my affection. Now I seem lost without any hope – I have nothing to dream of – Without your smile without your love all the little moments 2 that we once shared are gone with no reason Yet, sometimes, when I see your smile it takes me a while to realize the smile wasn’t meant for me. “Bygone Days” circa 1986 It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, to hear you softly whisper my name in the moonlight. It seems like forever and a day since I’ve held you in my arms So many times I recall bygone days and wish the past weren’t so far away. 3 As an adult, rereading those words makes me laugh. The word “drama” comes to mind. It is easy to see that the drama continued and escalated by 1989 as evidenced in the poems from that time period. Below are two examples: “Untitled” circa 1989 I hate him How many times have I said that? I can’t seem to make up my mind. I’ve told myself before, Don’t get attached, go with it for fun. It’s not that easy. When you share something really special you can’t just blow it off so easy. At least I can’t. Who knows about you. We’re not the same right? Just stop confusing me, okay! Stop acting like you really want to spend time with me. I can’t take it. Too much pressure. Leave me alone if you don’t intend to do anything about it! 4 “Untitled” circa 1989 I tell myself not to think about you today. Maybe if I don’t call or see you for a few days you’ll start to miss me. That’s not the problem. The problem is you – You use people and when you’ve squeezed all you can out of a person you toss them aside and use someone else. Yes, I got pulled in by your looks, charms, and style. God. How stupid. Now I have to go back and rebuild myself. Starting from scratch. I feel so used. But hey, that’s understandable. I’ve been used by the best. Right? Beyond the use of “poetry” to release my frustrations, writing never played a role in my life. After graduating from high school, I never wrote for personal pleasure again until 2002 when I enrolled in the Oklahoma Writing Project. In this month-long, intensive writing workshop, teachers get first-hand experience writing to a variety of 5 prompts, as well as, developing a research-based writing presentation.

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