Finding the right beat

The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop was crowded the last Saturday in January. Twenty two teens squeezed around the table, onto the couches, and on any other available seat in order to learn from young adult (YA) author Ellen O'Clover.

O'Clover made her professional debut this year with the YA novel Seven Degrees of Ro Devereux, in which a high school senior creates a mobile app that went viral. There's romance, humor and more in this tale, but she wanted to do more than talk about her new novel with the youth packed into the bookshop. So she led them in a writing workshop.

"I'm not a huge fan of being the center of attention," O'Clover laughed. "Writing can be a very solitary activity and I think it's so important to find your people and your writing group, and that starts young."

O'Clover walked attendees through her process of plotting a story by way of using a beat sheet. Throughout the workshop, she encouraged the participants to engage with her, asking what a beat sheet is-it helps define major plot points-and other literary terms like the three-act structure.

She seemed pleasantly surprised when she received the correct answer every time, saying, "You know way more than I did when I was starting out!"

Together, O'Clover and the crowd came up with a character and potential premises. With those key elements established, the teens set to work, independently writing outlines before sharing with the group.

O'Clover explained that these sort of events are often very formative for young writers, and since she found such joy in them as a teen, she wanted to recreate that feeling.

"When I was growing up,... I did a bunch of workshops at the Thurber House," she said. "It was really transformative for me to have adults taking my writing seriously and to have a space to share that. I want to create that space for other kids."

It definitely seemed to be a hit with those attending- Layna Longseth said that using the beat sheet "really helped" her think through the middle of her story. Others agreed, and there were many who excitedly raised their hands to share their outlines.

"What better thing for a group of teenagers to be doing on a Saturday night?" O'Clover grinned. "To foster their creativity and be in a space like this....If [writing] is what you nerd out on, that's awesome, you should be proud of that because not everyone has that creative fire."