On the Journey

Anna and the French Kiss, YA

2012-02-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

I recently read the book Anna the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins. I was strolling by the YA section of the library and saw this one on the top of the shelf.

My first impression was that if Ms. Perkins has not been to Paris, she's got amazing research skills. I have visited Paris twice, which is not at all the same as living there, and even I found myself nodding at the accuracy of her descriptions.

Here's me on the Eiffel Tower in 1991. Eons ago. I'm at the mid-level area, because I'm afraid of heights and this was the best I could do.

I've also went to 6 different schools in my K-12 career. I went to 3 different high schools. I lived in Germany my last two years of high school (on an American base during the first Gulf War.) All of these experiences made me very sympathetic with the plight Anna faces as being the new kid in her school and feeling discomfort as an American in a place not known for their love of Americans. However, even if you did not ever have those experiences, Ms. Perkins builds her story so well that you will feel like you have.

Anna is a believable, sympathetic character with a strong voice and excellent sense of humor. The whole book was a fun romance that I enjoyed tremendously. It's not super suspenseful, yet I stayed up quite late to finish it, so hats off to you, Ms. Perkins!

If you like YA romances that are a little quirky with vivid sensory descriptions of a foreign location, you'll enjoy this one! It's not just about her finding love, but about finding herself in a place far, far from home.

And if you ever go to Paris, make sure you take plenty of rests. If you don't, you could be me:

Ender's Game and Science Fiction

2011-12-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

I enjoy science fiction and yet somehow had never read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I know! I know! It's embarrassing, really. It was never a purposeful omission. I enjoyed the Foundation series by Asimov as much as anyone. I adore Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. While I don't read tons of SF, I do enjoy the genre and I'm so glad I read Ender's Game!

I read it in a day. I noticed the way he opened chapters with a short little clip from the point of view of the adults in the story, often without using their names in the short transaction. I paid attention to how he kept the storytelling within the chapters themselves actually from Ender's POV, third person limited. Well, mostly, because then at times, he headhops into Ender's sister's mind while she tells part of the story, and yet it all flows seamlessly. His vision for what computers might be like in his future astounds me the same way that the author of Feed did when he essentially describes Amazon's helpful suggestions upon checkout or Pandora sending me links to music "it" thinks I might like. Just amazing.

I have a copy of Orson Scott Card's book How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I was familiar with his name when I was given the book. Now that I've read Ender's Game, I am ready to read this instructive book again. I learned so much the first time through. I can't wait to see what I learn this time. Since I'm planning out an idea for a science fiction YA (possibly upper MG,) I want to learn from one of the best there is in the field.

Why Reviews Matter

2011-11-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

I had heard of Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi. I had sort of thought I'd wait to get it at the library, though. I have so many books already. But then I read Nathan Bransford's post about it. Then I read this part of his post.

But what really sets 'Shatter Me' apart is the writing. True to form, Tahereh didn't just go and write a novel, there's an incredibly clever use of strikethrough and some of the most unique turns of phrase and descriptions you'll ever see in a YA novel. 'Shatter Me' is proof that you can have innovative language in a commercial YA novel.

I immediately turned on my Kindle, saw that it was available on Kindle and I bought it. Just like that. Because when someone like Nathan Bransford (former agent, now published MG author)is this impressed with someone's writing, it means I need to check it out.

And I'm glad I did. Her writing lived up to the hype. I'm very impressed and I enjoyed the book immensely.

Thanks, Nathan, for the great review! It's a win-win: a win for the author and a win for the readers.

Ira Glass on Storytelling

2011-10-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

A wise statement on storytelling by Ira Glass that never gets old for me. Thanks to Rachelle Gardner for posting this to her blog. I believe I've linked to this interview with Ira Glass before, but I really can't hear this advice enough.

Southwest Texas SCBWI Fall Conference: Early Bird Rate until tomorrow!

2011-08-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

If you are a local San Antonio or surrounding area person who writes for children or teens, don't miss out on the Southwest Texas SCBWI fall conference. The early bird registeration price lasts until tomorrow, August 5th.

Follow the link for more information. Hopefully I'll see you there!

YA Dystopian: Feed, by M.T. Anderson

2011-07-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

A while back, I reviewed the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I loved the story! The protagonist in that book gives a list of his top ten favorite books. The books are listed without the authors. One of the books listed was Feed and I determined at that time to read Feed. However, I also discovered there is more than one book with that title in the YA section and the first one I checked out was about zombies and didn't really resonate with me.

Then, I found M.T. Anderson's book listed in Book Crush by Nancy Pearl and thought, "Ah-hah! Maybe this is the one he meant!" And I bet it was.

Feed by M.T. Anderson is an excellent read. The most impressive aspect of it to me was the world-building. Having written a draft of a fantasy dystopian, I know how hard it is to give enough information to allow readers to understand your world without dumping a lot of data on them in the first pages. I have recently read a number of blogs about the importance of letting the reader do her/his share of the work and not giving everything on a silver platter. Anderson excels at that. My brain had to keep making additions and adjustments to my mental picture of the world clear to the end of the story, but never in a way that made me misunderstand what was happening. Anderson also uses lingo and dialect brilliantly to create a futuristic society, including teens with their own slang that somehow is perfectly understandable through context without ever being explained in an obvious way. Most impressive.

I did not enjoy the protagonist as much I often do in books I like. I found him to be irritating at times, but quite realistic. There are a few uses of the f-word tossed in and out throughout, so it's not a book I'd use in a traditional classroom, per se, but it IS a book that would provoke excellent discussion regarding social media's encroachment on our time, lives, and expectations. Very interesting and thought-provoking read! Published in 2002-- Anderson's vision for what the future could bring is eerie to me, given people's constant checking of Twitter and Facebook and texting...thumbs up.

When It's Time to Begin a New Story

2011-07-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Everything I've read says that once you start querying, the best thing to do is to start writing the next thing. I believe them. Keep querying, mind you, but also move on. I am finding this very hard to do. I feel like i'm giving up on my middle grade manuscript if I stop thinking about it, worrying about it, hoping for it...but really, as many writer and agent blogs point out, querying is hardly a full-time job. I have a full-time job as a mother, and a part-time job writing passages and items for assessments, so really, the remaining time I spend working on my own stuff needs to be very focused.

I am almost ready to move on, I think. I've got a couple of different premises I'm playing with in my head. They are marinating. Percolating, if you will. And soon, I think, I'll be able to start a fresh new draft, set in a different world, with different characters. But there is still a sense of sadness, like I'm saying goodbye to someone I love. This is the first manuscript that I felt really WORKED. It's scary to start all over again! But starting a new work after finishing the last one is part of being a writer, at least the kind of writer I want to be.

So I'll begin. Soon.

Excellent Editorial and Critique Services

2011-06-03T12:14:00.001-07:00

For those of you trying to polish a manuscript who might want advice from a professional, I've got some names I happily recommend. I always pay for a critique when I go to a conference, but I couldn't attend the spring SCBWI conference this year. It finally occurred to me that I could just pay for a critique myself! Cynthia Leitich Smith has a great list of good editorial and critique services listed on her awesome website. That's where I found two of the three below. Here are people I have used to critique my work and definitely recommend.

Misa Ramirez, a published author of a number of books, offers critique services of varying levels. Her responses have been thorough and constructive. She did a development critique of a YA's synpopsis and first ten pages and then a full critique for my entire MG manuscript, with line-editing. She goes above and beyond.

Amy Lin, at Editomato, who is an editor who formerly worked in the children's publishing market. I chose her because of this fact, specifically. I wanted someone's feedback who was very familiar with children's market. She gave a very detailed developmental critique that provided detailed information that really strengthened my manuscript. She helped me understand certain facts about book series versus stand-alone novels for young readers that I have never learned anywhere else-- and I read a lot and follow a lot of blogs about children's publishing. So I'm very thankful for my experience with Amy. She has a wealth of knowledge especially relevent to others writing for children.

Texas Sweethearts: A group of Texas writers who work together in a number of ways. They are writers for children and teens who offer a variety of critique services as well. P.J. Hoover critiqued my query letter and she doubled or tripled its impact with her suggestions. She was so kind and very easy to work with.

All of these people were fabulous to work with. It can be terrifying to offer up your work to possibly be sliced and diced, but they earned my trust. That's not always the case. I did once talk with one editor (who seemed quite legit) about a YA novel of mine in which he wrote back a fairly crushing statement about my story and my writing ability and told me for a mere $2000 for a one-time phone conversation, he'd give me better ideas about my plot, characters and writing style. Uh-huh.

So working with constructive, kind people is not something to take for granted. These wonderful folks didn't just cheerlead, either-- you can be kind and helpful at the same time, and all three of these lovely people know how. Writing partners are awesome and I love, love, love mine (shout-out to you, Awesome Writing Partner!), but sometimes you need another objective opinion from someone who has special insight into your genre or market. Thumbs up for these people, fellow writers!

My Edits Regarding the Last Post: I got 10.

2011-05-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this in a separate posting to not spoil anyone's guesses who might still be trying to find all the errors in the nice dentist's flyer.

To review:

Name of dentist, deleted to keep me from being too catty

Our office performs general and pediatric dentistry and orthodontic
Our office also offers sealants, night guard, flouride and many more services

We offer Fast Braces (Patients only wear the braces for 12 to 15 months it correct teeth faster than traditional brace. Our office can also offer you care credit if needed.

We accept Medicaid, Tx chip and most insurance. Our office can also offer you care credit if needed.

Specials: Whitening $100($350 value)

I'd edit the following things.

Name of dentist, etc

Our office performs general and pediatric dentistry and orthodontic 1. Orthodonic what? Care? It is an adjective and needs a noun or should be changed into a noun form (orthodontia? I'm not sure-- I'm not a dentist.) 2. Needs a period at the sentence.

Our office also offers sealants, night guard, flouride and many more services 3. Since "sealants" is plural, I think "night guards" should be as well. 4. This sentence also needs a period.

We offer Fast Braces 5. Period here, because the parenthesis is missing the other half and I'm going to remove it altogether. ( 6. Remove parenthesis, as the other half is missing. Patients only wear the braces for 12 to 15 months it correct teeth faster than traditional brace. 7. This is a run-on sentence, so it needs either a period and capital after "months" or at least a semi-colon. Of course, a single comma isn't strong enough for that location, either. 8. "Correct" should be "corrects" because the word "it" is singular. If they changed "it" to "they" for "braces" that would also work, but not "it" with "correct." That's subject-verb agreement. Finally, 9, the word "brace" should be "braces." Our office can also offer you care credit if needed.

We accept Medicaid, Tx chip and most insurance 10. TX Chip and I think you could argue it should be "most insurances" or "most insurance plans" but I won't count that one. Our office can also offer you care credit if needed. I won't count this one, either, but it's a completely repeated sentence, so I feel something needs to be done about that, plus I don't know what "care credit" is or if it differs from regular credit somehow.
Specials: Whitening $100($350 value) Needs a space between the two dollar amounts...but I don't have the heart to make that #11.

How did you do? Did I miss anything? It's entirely possible. I may have been a middle school English and Reading teacher, but I really didn't hyper-focus on the finer points of grammar. I'm really not that picky, I don't think. If you want to see posts by someone who REALLY knows the English language, then I direct you to Edittorrent...quite amazing. She knows grammar and punctuation inside out.

On the Importance of Grammar and Punctuation

2011-05-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

With email and twitter, I see a lot of people not using capitals, periods, commas, etc. For email, this bothers me. Okay, for anything, this bothers me. Too much of a former English teacher, I guess. But I understand the reasoning behind it. However...when you are sending home a flyer about your business, you really do want to use proper English.

My first grade daughter attended Career Day at her school on Friday. The first grade class got to hear from three speakers. One was from Bush's Chicken, which is sort of like Kentucky Fried Chicken, but not as tasty. The Bush's Chicken mascot was even there. I find this to be suspiciously like advertising, but okay. Then came a representative from our local big grocery store chain. Again, this seemed suspiciously like free advertising for them, but I hadn't signed up to present, so I couldn't really gripe. Then came the dentist. The dentist sent home a free toothpaste/toothbrush kit, a flyer about eating fruits and veggies (cool) and a half-page flyer advertising their business. It is mostly an ad for "Fast Braces." Here's the problem. I found at least 8 different errors in this thing that was given away at a SCHOOL function by a professional person. It seriously disturbed me. Here's what it said, without any changes to it, other than the original came home on pretty pink paper:

Name of dentist, deleted to keep me from being too catty

Our office performs general and pediatric dentistry and orthodontic
Our office also offers sealants, night guard, flouride and many more services

We offer Fast Braces (Patients only wear the braces for 12 to 15 months it correct teeth faster than traditional brace. Our office can also offer you care credit if needed.

We accept Medicaid, Tx chip and most insurance. Our office can also offer you care credit if needed.

Specials: Whitening $100($350 value)

Can you find all the errors? It's like one of those Daily Oral Language exercises from English class, only a REAL person sent this home to over 100 parents. It makes me cringe.

Kids, this is why you need to pay attention in English class. I would never take my kids to a dentist who didn't bother to spellcheck an advertisement. So much for "Career Day"-- it's more like "Free Advertising Day." But it only works if your advertisement doesn't make you look ignorant.

Word counts

2011-05-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent post about word counts, by agent Jenn Laughran. I'm posting it here so I'll always know where to find it when I'm pondering word counts. For example, my middle grade chapter book was right about the length I thought it should be, but then everyone who read it wanted me to develop it more. Now, I realize it's not a chapter book anymore, the way that term is used. It's just solid middle grade. Good to know!

Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson

2011-04-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to read this book. It sounded too depressing, honestly. However, I am signed up for a writing workshop conference in a few weeks and one of the books they will be discussing is Chains, for the YA portion of the discussion.

I like to escape when I read, but this book is set during the American Revolution and told from the POV of a young female slave. I was unhappy from the start because when her master dies, she knows she is supposed to be freed according to her owner's will, but the paperwork is missing and so she and her little sister end up being given to the next of kin, who are loyalists to Britain.

But I found myself drawn in against my will, almost, and the story really is quite brilliant. The historical facts are woven throughout and reveal both sides of the war from a new perspective to many people. I don't think my history class ever addressed how slaves were treated in the north during the American Revolution, or what rights they had or didn't have. It made me want to read up on that period of history, which is really quite an accomplishment. I cried a lot throughout the book (is it me, or do I seem to say that a lot?)but was happy with the ending.

This would be a fabulous book to use as a way to teach American History in a classroom or for a homeschooling family. Thumbs up.

Beautiful, Precious Middle Grade Books

2011-04-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

I have two books for you today. Since the last book was a silly, fun mockery of Sci-Fi and horror, I figured I ought to offer a variety of choices for those who might not find the other books to their taste. You'll love these, even if you loved Attack of the Killer Bunnies. I did.

1. The Penderwicks: The Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall
2. Heart of a Shepherd, by Rosanne Parry

Both of these have a sweet innocence that at first made me think the setting was in the 1950's or earlier, but then in the Penderwicks, when one of the sisters says, "Cool!" I thought, "Wait a minute!" And Heart of the Shephard also seemed like historical fiction-- until I realized the father had been sent to Iraq as an officer in the Reserve.

Both are sweet, precious novels. Heart of a Shepherd deals with spirituality with grace (so to speak) and respect for its readers. Nothing is shoved down anyone's throats. The POV is just perfect and the writing is lovely. The protagonist is also an eleven year old boy who lives on a cattle ranch, so it's a nice choice for upper elementary boys who might be ready to wrestle with the Big Questions in life.

The Penderwicks took me back to reading Little Women or The Bobsey Twins. The ending is just awesome.

I cried at the end of both books, so be warned. Of course, I cry easily (Mr. Holland's Opus made me BAWL at the end), so it doesn't mean that YOU will cry. Just sayin'...be prepared.

And most of all? Enjoy!

Cool Microsoft Word Tricks link

2011-04-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

I don't want to forget these cool Microsoft Word Tricks by the Intern. One of them was alluded to in a previous post, but The Intern's post includes screen shots! Awesome!

Marketing for Introverts

2011-03-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have recently been pondering what life would be like if indeed I sold my MG novel and needed to promote it. When my child's teacher asked people to come in and speak for career day, I signed myself up as a writer (which I am) and was honest about the "for the assessment world" part. But I really signed up so I could practice talking about writing in front of kids. I think it will be quite different than doing it as their actual writing teacher, which is how I've experienced it before.

But I'm super excited because I just found (thanks to the awesome Nathan Bransford) this great site on marketing for introverts, called Shrinking Violets Promotions. I can't wait to dive into their site and see what they have to say. A quote posted on this site that I found very encouraging (and hilarious):

Just write your heart out. I promise you that's what matters. I would much, much rather find a great, unusual, distinctive book by a phobic writer covered in oozing sores who lives in a closet than a decent but not amazingly original book by the world’s best promoter. I could sell the former a lot better, too." Elizabeth Law, Publisher, Egmont USA

A Fun MG read: Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies

2011-03-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

I have been reading more MG lately, since I recently drafted a MG manuscript and wanted to see where it might fit in the different levels of MG available. I noticed the title of this one, Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies, by Andrea Beaty, and had to see what it was about. It's super cute! The humor is quirky and clever.

Fore example, the first chapter begins, "Chapter 1. MEANWHILE, in space.... The flaming meteor hurtled through the endless black void. Remember this. It's important later." The writing style made me smile nearly the whole way through. The book also has some comics included here and there, as well as funny illustrations.

The story pokes fun at horror movies the way The Hitchhiker's Guide does to science fiction. In fact, admirers of Fluffy Bunnies will most likley one day graduate to Douglas Adams and be right at home. Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies is shelved in the juvenile section of the library and Amazon lists it for grades 3-5. If you are looking for a fast, fun read and especially if you love or appreciate the history of terrible, cheesy horror and science fiction movies like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, you'll really enjoy this, whether you are a kid or not!

Also, I found a line that I think is priceless. When describing a terrible stench, Ms. Beaty writes, "It was the kind of smell that had the power to make unicorns weep." Awesome!!

Rejections

2011-03-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

I heard Kristi Holl speak today at a SCBWI meeting on Publishing 101. She covered a lot of great points inside that giant behemoth of a topic. One that really stuck with me was the reality of rejection in your writing. If you are publishing, you are also getting rejected. Somehow, in my head, I was imagining that once you sold your first book, things got easier and you had fewer rejections after that. Maybe you do get fewer. But you still get rejected.

In some ways, I guess hearing that could be depressing, but in others, it's pretty freeing. I can stop worrying about IF I'll get rejected and just prepare for different ways of dealing with it and not take it all so hard when I do. I've gotten rejections now and then with assessment work, but really, percentage-wise, it's a lot less than I might have thought. But writing for magazines and writing books is an entirely different world.

Several months ago, I made a 100's chart sort of like the one in the link, the kind kids use to learn math. I decided my goal would be to fill up that chart with rejections and I'd mark off one number for each rejection. I'm in the teens now, I think, and that includes magazine submissions and queries on books. Somehow, having a system in place in which I get to treat myself after I fill in a new row of rejections makes it less…abhorrent. I still am sad and hurt with each one-- and I'm beginning to accept that it's not because I'm a super sensitive person, but because I'm HUMAN. But…it also takes a bit of the sting off to know I'm working towards another goal. Because secretly, of course, my hope is that if I submit enough and KEEP AT IT, then maybe one day, my work will reach the right person! It surely won't be published if it's stays on my desk.

Kristi pointed out that everyone gets rejected, but not many people talk about it. At least not at the time. Stephen King tells about the giant stack of rejections he had staked to his wall, but given that he's, well, Stephen King, that's only moderately helpful for me to read. It helped a lot to hear that Kristi had something like 30 rejections before she sold her first article to a magazine. She's since published 39 books for children and makes her living as a writer, teacher and speaker. That's tough to do -- and she swears that persistence will trump talent every time when it comes to who gets published.

So…I'm going to be persistent. Even when I get rejected. I'll keep on writing. I encourage you to do the same!

PS-- Good timing on hearing this talk today: guess what I got in the mail? Yep, a rejection. Off to go mark off another X on my chart.

An encouraging post and link on storytelling

2011-02-26T09:06:00.001-08:00

Many thanks to Jane Friedman for her post "You Hate Your Writing? That's a Good Sign!" In her blog, she links to a four-part interview with Ira Glass (it's quite short) that is just excellent. Parts II and III were particularly awesome. I highly recommend it! Especially if you, like me, struggle with knowing what you want your writing to be compared to what it is now.

My new favorite book on writing

2011-02-09T09:51:00.001-08:00

My new favorite book on writing is Thanks, but This Isn't for Us: A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your WRiting is Being Rejected, by Jessica Page Morrell. She's witty, yet brutally clear. Fun, yet helpful. I haven't read a ton of truly brand new information, but I did see some of my own mistakes described in there, already inspiriing some revisions to my work-in-progress.

I also feel very affirmed as a writer. You might remember how in my last post, I confessed to feeling a bit like a faker because I can't seem to write organically very well like my writing idols? And how Anne Lamott (who is quoting E.L.Doctorow) describes writing a story like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. Actually, I remembered it as driving through fog, so it's entirely possible someone else in the writing world compared writing to driving through fog, seeing a tiny bit of the story at a time. And now I'm trying to use a story board, plotting all my plot points in advance. It's FUN and I like it, but I also feel a bit like a heretic for doing it, even though I think it's working well for me.

ANYWAY! There is a point to this!

In Thanks, but This Isn't for Us, Ms. Morrell says, and I'm going to quote her here,

One bit of accepted wisdom that drives me crazy is when famous writers claim that writing is like driving in the fog without the headlights on and that you can make the whole trip that way. Who are they kidding? Driving without headlights in the fog is maddening and a hazard to other drivers. And what's the point of stumbling along clueless and blind as your shoulders tense at each approaching curve? I'm all for the writing process being fun and a way to express our deepest passions. But I believe in headlights and want to suggest you need a more working-class version of the writing life. You need to see yourself as a skilled laborer, not an artiste who awakes each morning wondering how best to flirt with your muse.

OH MY GOODNESS. I LOVED this. I loved it because it spoke to my deepest fear that I'm not really a writer because I don't hear from my muse and have my characters do all kinds of unexpected things while I watch, amused and amazed, from afar.

I still LOVE my idol-writers. Obviously, the organic method works for many, many people, so I'm not bashing it at all. But I'm a follow-the-rules kind of girl and I always thought writing this way was THE way to write, if you were a "real writer." Plenty of writers trash "plotting" as something that real writers don't do. That's all I had read about from the books on writing that really stuck with me.

Now I have a new book on writing to stick with me. :)

My new story plan...

2011-02-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

My new idea is coming together and I'm about to start writing...soon. I'm not quite ready. In the past, I always had a general idea, a main character, and then I'd set off writing. Some people call these type of people organic writer or pantsters, as in fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants. Many writers I admire tremendously write/wrote this way. Madeleine L'Engle, Stephen King, Anne Lamott. I wanted to be like them. I read Bird by Bird and On Writing to learn from them. And I tried to write like them. Only I'm NOT them and my stories never quite worked. Anne Lamott once described writing a story like driving a car through fog. You can only see as far as your headlights go, but you can travel across a long distance that way if you just keep driving. (Edited to add: Turns out she is quoting E. L. Doctrow, and then expounds on that idea-- it's on page 18 of Bird by Bird.) And Stephen King pointed out that since he never knows how his stories will end, it ensure his readers will be surprised, as well. He begins with a question, much of the time. What if... What if vampires take over a tiny town? And when you chase that interesting idea, you get Salem's Lot. I liked this. It works for some great writers. I did some What If questions and got a great question that I wrote a manuscript around but I never really got a good answer to my what-if question and the middle was lacking, too. It just didn't work for me.

Then I read several authors who swore that you couldn't write a good beginning until you knew where your story would end. Obviously some can and DO (so forget the blanket statements), but...hmmmm. Well, that made sense. When I write my passages for assessment companies, which, granted, are far shorter, I have to pitch the idea first and that includes what will happen. I go in knowing what will probably happen. Do my characters "come alive" and do unexpected things? Sometimes, but not like Madeleine L'Engle desribes. She and Stephen King both describe their characters like you and I would describe their friends, as people with a mind of their own. I still thought this sounded so great. So I was still internally resisting this idea of planning my novels. I wanted so much to be like my idols.

Then I stumbled on a blog about plotting a storyboard and from there found Alexandra Sokoloff's amazing site all about the three act structure of a good novel or movie. I've been reading a ton from this site and it's all been so fun. I literally don't watch movies the same anymore! My girls had Cinderella on in the living room while I was making dinner and I was thinking, "Hmmm...well, I think when the Fairy Godmother appears, that's the transition into Act II, because we are now in a magical world..."

And so....drum roll...I made a plot board! Yes! Because I'm a good little student who always does what the teacher says! But it's been really fun and I'm slowly realizing how much more likely it is that I will end up with a novel that actually WORKS as a complete unit, not a bunch of good scenes I like that are disjointed and simply don't add up to a solid novel.

I'm hopeful. And did I mention I'm having fun? Surely that's a good sign.

Here's after my first run of putting up my post-its.

Then, after talking about the world I'm creating with my husband and reading through more of Alexandra Sokoloff's site, I've added more thoughts:

Finding the time to sit down and begin writing feels more scary this way, though. Because I believe this COULD work...if I just don't mess it all up!

New wine, old wineskins...time to start a new story

2011-01-29T18:59:00.001-08:00

I have been working on revising an upper MG manuscript that actually began from something I wrote a long, long time ago. I liked the characters and theme and built around what I had. I felt pleased with the result. That was nearly a year ago. Then I read more and learned more and realized, oh! My main character isn't active enough. He needs to make more decisions and push the action more. So I made more changes. Then I read about strong beginnings and made changes based on that. I've worked and worked on this story...but in the end, I think I've decided that it's time to set it aside and begin a fresh work. I think I need to take all the things I've learned and start fresh with a brand new story.

My husband and I both came up with the same analogy independently of each other, which is both eerie and neat, and it's something Jesus talked about in the New Testament-- the folly of putting new wine in old wineskins. The idea is that the new wine will be ruined this way and instead, you need fresh containers for the new stuff. He wasn't talking about writing skills when he was talking (or actually about wine, either), but I think it works for this analogy, too.

I think everything I've learned this year is the new stuff. It needs a new place to go, a clean slate. So. Time to start fresh!

When Work is Busy

2011-01-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

January through March is one of the busier seasons for me as a writer for assessments. This is normal. During this season, I usually do not even attempt to keep up with my "own" writing. What's interesting to me is that this year, I still can't get my own stories out of my mind. I think this is a good sign. Before, they just got shoved to the backburner and forgotten about in the frenzy of work. But now...it's like spending time on my own work is a reward I offer myself after spending several hours writing test passages or items. I enjoy writing those, too, (sometimes) but it is a different kind of thinking process and I know that in the end, I'll sell all my rights and never see them again.

I have purchased three posterboards and a bunch of sticky notes in honor of the "index card plotting" method described by several bloggers, but in particular, the post on Adventures' in Children's Publishing on A Writer's Plot Board. I did this right before the big influx of work, planning on plotting out my completed first draft of my current WIP and maybe using it as I think through what might happen in my next story, especially now that I've figured out my original high stakes problem just isn't going to work. Very exciting. I love little post it notes, so I figured this would be great fun as well as very helpul.

It hasn't happened yet. I did attend a great Webinar through Writer's Digest on Strong Beginnings and learned that the beginning to my current WIP still needs further crafting. So I keep pondering it and that whole story...but can't work on it quite yet. It feels really good, though, that I want to.

Why It Sometimes Helps to Get Feedback Early

2011-01-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

I wrote the first scene for my new MG sci fi story-- one I have been thinking about, very excitedly. I've been reading the book Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, and the whole time I was imagining this story. You know, comparing my plans with what the author Les Edgeron says is important in a great beginning...

Then my husband reads the first page and points out a major, fatal flaw in the story premise. There's really no getting around it-- the central problem I had envisioned just isn't a big deal in a sci fi universe. I've read enough science fiction that I should have seen that, but it took an outside person to say, "Uh, hey, if they can do things like terraform a planet, is this main problem of yours really that big of a problem? I'm really sorry to have to point that out." He was very sweet about it.

Well, better now than 100 pages later, right? So...back to the drawing board. Maybe there's a way to save it yet. I'll keep thinking. Dang it.

Found a blog to add to my list of favorites

2011-01-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

I came across Alexandra's Sokoloff's blog. I'm not entirely sure how I found it, but I know it was linked in a post about plotting a storyboard. It's a treasure trove of ideas! As I'm thinking through my new story, I'm trying to keep everything in mind that she talks about. If you are stuck in the revision process and are a more organic kind of writer, I wonder if trying out the sticky note/index notecard storyboard idea might not help. I am definitely going to try it!

New Year's Writing Resolution

2011-01-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

My goal for this year is to write another MG or YA manuscript. I actually have the idea and it's probably a MG novel, actually. This will be in addition to my regular writing for work, and keeping up with my Institute of Children's Literature course. I also plan on revising and doing a full second draft of my last upper MG/lower YA manuscript. I always like having my goals in writing-- makes it more official. So, now I'm off to write!

Oh, That Voice!

2010-12-07T17:14:00.001-08:00

I recently finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie and I LOVED it. The protagonist is fourteen and has such a strong voice. Awesome. He also is honest and talks about the kinds of things that are on a fourteen year old's mind, which has caused some issues with parents who are concerned about what their kids are reading (more to come on that below.) What I also really loved about it was that it validated my own protagonist of my current work-in-progress, in a way. I tend to write on that line between upper MG and lower YA, sometimes called Transition now, sometimes called Tween (which is not what I think of as tween.) This guy, though, walks that line, too. Of course, his book is marked as YA, but it feels like something my middle schoolers would read and totally get. It's a book to give those guys who say they hate books-- they'd love it. It's funny AND touching AND challenging.

My husband said, "It's funny? It's full of really sad things that happen!" (I made him read it.) And okay, no spoilers, but yes, sad things happen in the book. Normally, I'm all about avoiding sadness in book. I want escapism!! But this one...man, I just loved this protagonist. I loved his voice, this edge of raw honesty, humor and self-reflection. Thumbs up. In the book, too, his character makes a list of his favorite things, so he has a top book list. I'm going to read those books next. :)

Oh, and also? It's been banned or considered being banned a number of times, which is one my life goals as a writer, to have a book that is so true to life, so challenging, that adults freak out and think kids should be sheltered from it. Here's another article about how it was banned in Oregon State. And might I mention that I just discovered the blog linked in the previous link (thanks, Google!) just now and it looks totally great? I'm going to start following that one...has a great list of books to read.

Steampunk Surprise

2010-12-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

I love fantasy. I enjoy science fiction. I appreciate alternate histories. I love dystopians. I love all sorts of novels that require using your imagination to build a different world in your mind alongside the author. I had heard of steampunk, of course, and figured I sort of understood what steampunk meant. Then I tried to read Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld. Now, I had read Uglies by him, and loved it. I thought his premise was clever and fascinating. I saw Leviathan on a list of recommended reads by teens, which I'm slowly working through, and checked it out of the library.

I'm glad I used the library.

It didn't help that there are two protagonists, that it is so politcal and war-centered. None of those are things I love. But the scope of weirdness was so far beyond what I had read before that I struggled to pay attention to the plot in my attempts to visualize this alternate WWI setting, with machines and living-genetically altered living creatures mixed together to create a different kind of war machine. Hearing Germany and France just kept jarring me as I was reading about a floating ship consisting of a giant, living whale and an apparently a giant ecosystem that also somehow requires pilots and navy-like Air Force people. I was so baffled that I might be completely wrong about what the ship actually was built out of, but if that's the case, that's just another reason why it's not a book for me.

I think it's clear that it takes a lot of creativity to build this kind of world and I can respect that. I can totally respect the author and how much he has accomplished. What I couldn't do is get past chapter 4 of this particular book. Do you know how rare that is? I actually abandoned a book! Gasp! Now I will try one other steampunk, I suppose, to see if I dislike the genre in general (as I suspect) or if it was just one of those cases when a reader and a book don't match. There are lots of fans for Leviathan--I'm just not one of them. I feel sad about that. Steampunk sounds so COOL! "Yeah, I'm reading this awesome steampunk novel..." Oh well! Too many books to spend time on ones you don't really enjoy! Off to read The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. It was on the same recommended list as Leviathan...we'll see how this one goes!

Recent YA and MG I've read

2010-11-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

I have decided to read seriously more YA and MG, both because I think it's good as a writer to see what's out there and see fresh ideas and approaches and because if I end up teaching Reading again, I want to be able to have lots of books to recommend to my middle school students. I'm also forcing myself out of my traditional fantasy/paranormal/romance preferences.

SO!

I got a variety of "Best of" lists and have been working my way through them. THe ones that stand out the most:

The Six Rules of Maybe, by Deb Caletti, YA This book had such great sentences that I wanted to stop now and then and just type one up as my Facebook status in honor of it. I also appreciated that the protagonist is a codependent teen who begins to learn that she is not the one who should be in charge of everyone else's lives. As a codependent in recovery, I, of course, totally identified with the main character.

What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell YA Set right after the end of WWII, this is a mystery and a romance, but mostly a mystery. However, the language is also very beautiful, the kind of writing that makes you stop and go, "Wow!" Nice theme, very much a page-turner. I, in fact, let my kids watch more TV than usual just so I finish the book.

The FarWalker's Quest, by Joni Sensel-- This is MG, not YA, with zero romance (a very clear-cut MG novel), with a very interesting world. I like that the protagnoist is a strong girl and there are questions about who can be trusted and why. It's the author's first fantasy novel and though I felt it started off too slow, it picked up the pace and was definitely worth the read.

So many books, so little time, but I'm slowly working through a list of recommended reads by both teens, the publishing industry and The Book Whisperer.

Not all of the books I've read have been great, but I'd rather focus on the good ones than list ones I didn't enjoy. Others might enjoy them more than I did.

A brilliant idea by someone else

2010-11-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is why it is good to read agent and editor blogs. I was reading The Rejectionist, which is really just a funny little vent about how she overuses certain words when she writes and how frustrating it is. I don't often read all the comments, but I was scrolling down through them and found someone who said, "OOh, for those words you overuse and you know you overuse them, Gary Corby posted on how to use autocorrect to self-correct those words in his blog!" And so I clicked and read and went, "HOW COOL!" Whether or not I'll do what he suggests, I don't know, but I think it's hilariously brilliant to have Word autocorrect an overused word to "NO! NO! NO!" Check it out "Autocorrect is your Friend," thanks to a smart commenter on the very smart Rejectionist's blog.

ETA: Another super-awesome cool post by the same dude, who is clearly way more tech savvy than I am. I have tried searching for "was ___ing" (was walking, was talking, etc) so I could make them all stronger, but couldn't figure out how. Gary Corby has the secret in his post, "Advanced Searching in Microsoft Word"! Go! Read! Then write! And then Advanced Search! And Edit!! Whoohoo!

A good laugh

2010-10-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy Rachelle Gardner's blog, but a recent post of hers really made me laugh out loud. It's called, "You Thought YOUR Rejections were Rough?" and includes book views and amazon comments about famous literary works. Always good to remember you can't and won't please everyone, so you might as well write what pleases you.

I'm beginning the revision process on a manuscript, so it's always encouraging to remember that even amazing literary giants have gotten harsh reviews.

Enjoy! My favorite is the comment on The Grapes of Wrath, since I remember thinking pretty much the same thing in high school when I had to read it.

Editor's Day Conference

2010-09-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, I attended our SCBWI chapter's Editor Day with a friend. It had been a while since I spent much time thinking about just writing and I was looking forward to it. Two editors spoke and author Dr. Carmen Tafolla gave an excellent keynote speech. She is quite the storyteller, a very dynamic and charismatic speaker.

I had paid for a critique of a picture book manuscript and Dr. Tafolla was the one who got my passage, so we had a nice 15 minutes where she said some very lovely things about my story. She suggested I try to get an agent. An agent?! I actually think she meant it. Honestly, I've sent out a few letters to agents (a total of five) and when they were not interested, I quit. I know that's not many, not in this business. But we also got these "golden tickets" where we can submit one manuscript to each editor who presented at the conference...which is quite different than submitting to an agent. I will probably try one of the editors first, before trying for more agents, because the golden ticket means my letter won't go in the slush pile-- at least, it's not supposed to. They are supposed to look at each our submissions individually, because we came to this conference.

My brain is telling me it doesn't matter anyway. The chances of anyone ever buying an actual BOOK manuscript from me seems crazy. Yet it helps to remember that I really do get paid to write fiction. So maybe, if I keep trying, one day something will happen and the right person in the publishing industry will see my "personal" work (which is how I distinguish it in my head from my assessment work) and like it.

I'll try to think positive. I'm going to revise my picture book manuscript based on Dr. Tafolla's suggestions and then submit it...to someone who either buys or represents both picture books and MG novels. That's a goal. I'll do it...before the middle of October. There. Now it's in writing.

A new look!

2010-08-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting lately because I've been working on my blog and a new homepage! It's easy to remember: www.amybearce.com . Many thanks to my wonderful friend Dawn, over at Dawn by Design for helping me work out a way to have both. :) Dawn, it's just what I was hoping for! Thank you so much!

I'm also celebrating because I completed my first draft of my current work in progress-- my third completed manuscript. I've printed it out and have set it aside for a while so that when I start the revision process, it'll be with more objective eyes.

I've also discovered that while I like having a blog, it takes a lot of time and attention to be a frequent blogger, at least if I want to say anything meaningful. Again, as the last time I began blogging, I'm realizing it takes time that I would otherwise use to work on my current project. With two small kids, time is at a premium and I have to choose the best way to spend it. That's a big reason I asked Dawn to help me create a static homepage. I wanted a place to keep up-to-date information without having to update my blog every other day. I just can't keep up that pace, not right now.

So, I'm happy with this balance. Life's all about balance, isn't it? While I won't be a super-frequent poster, I will continue give updates on my work, my thoughts on writing (I'm currently reading an excellent book on writing-- I'll post on that soon) and will continue to link to other postings that I find valuable. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you like the new look! :)

An excellent article on making a living as a writer

2010-07-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

For anyone considering becoming a professional writer, that is, earning all their income from writing, check out the article by John Scalzi, called John Scalzi's Utterly Useless Writing Advice.

The Rejectionist linked to it, and I followed it because I do love The Rejectionist, and I found a plethora of helpful and funny information. Thumbs up. Thought I'd share. Happy reading!

A Writing Teacher Who Was...WRONG.

2010-07-25T12:11:00.000-07:00

I went to a homeschool conference this Saturday. I'm not homeschooling my first grader this coming year, but I did homeschool this past year and hope to again. My four year old swears she's never going to school, so I thought it would be worthwhile. There were various seminars to choose from throughout the day and the first one was about Classical Writing-- specifically, using the Progymnasmata. Don't know what that is? Don't worry. It doesn't matter.

I used to teach writing to middle school kids and learned about using writing workshops with elementary kids and I was intrigued by her seminar description, "starting early." I won't say reveal her name or what curriculum she sells, because, I don't know, it just seems rude. BUT. As I was listening, she said two specific things that made me decide, "Nope, this woman is just WRONG."

First, she said, "It's getting to where I just can't take my daughter to Barnes and Noble anymore. There are just no good books on the shelf these days."

Her statement practically made the hair rise up on the back of my neck, especially when she added a little smug smile. I wanted to raise my hand and ask if she'd read anything recently from the children's section, from middle grade, from YA... I know she was referring to children's literature, though, because A) we were talking about teaching young children to write and B) she referred to seeing a book series involving a cat whose author apparently studies astrology, which means she must be an Awful Writer, apparently.

After she said that, I started doodling on my page the names of great modern books, in a slightly passive-aggressive manner... The Hunger Games. Harry Potter. Missing May. A Wrinkle in Time. The Outsiders. Ramona the Pest. Percy Jackson. Tuck Everlasting. The Light at Tern Rock. Lots and lots of lots of fabulous children's books, that used to not exist at all. Not moral, preachy lesson-books for kids. Beautiful literature that touches and inspires. Clearly, she doesn't know where to look in the bookstore.

Secondly, she was talking about how this classical approach teaches kids to really THINK about books, to analyze and make proper judgements about them. She scathingly commented about how public schools these days all ask, "How did the book make you feel?" and then said, "It's not about how the book makes you FEEL. It's about what the author was trying to TELL you."

To this, I reply, "BZZZZZZ! WRONG ANSWER!" If you are reading pure non-fiction, okay, sure. You've learned something. But I'm reading fiction, I want an experience. If I'm not moved emotionally, I'm not going to keep reading. We vicariously triumph, suffer and grow along with our favorite characters.

Check out what Randy Ingermanson says on his blog Advanced Fiction Writing about creating a perfect scene:

"Your reader is reading your fiction because you provide him or her with a powerful emotional experience." and "If you fail to create these emotions in your reader, then you have failed. If you create these emotions in your reader, then you have succeeded."

So I'm not the only one that thinks it actually IS about how the book makes you feel.

I left that class feeling frustrated that I didn't say something to her, but I knew it wasn't the time or the place. She wasn't going to change her mind. I wasn't going to change my mind. But I was pleased, at least, that I have grown enough as a writer to not believe everything someone tells me about writing wholesale.

In my opinion, she had no idea about how to teach fiction writing. Maybe she will create great essays and arguments, but that's not what she was talking about at the time. Happily, I have the freedom to ignore her advice, since she's clearly coming from a worldview that does not match my own. I can take the one or two things she said that made sense to me and use those, and ignore the rest.

When Publishing Statistics Knock the Breath Out of You (and not in a good way)

2010-07-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

This happened to me last night. I was looking through various websites of authors I admire. I was curious about how they set up their websites, how it differed from their blog, etc. Rick Riordan is from my very own town and wrote the very successful Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

I'm enjoying myself, scrolling through various things on the blog, and I see an "Advice for Aspiring Writers" section. Cool, I think. So I click. And he has a post on, "The Odds of Getting Published." I should have known not to read this! I got a bunch of statistics that seriously depressed me. I won't quote them here, in case you are teetering on the brink of despair yourself. In that case, DO NOT click on that link! Seriously.

Now, it's not his fault and I love Rick Riordan. He is only presenting the cold, hard facts about the chances of ever getting published in this world, much less earning any money at it. It's certainly not the first time I've heard facts like this and it's good to remember. In fact, in Take Joy by Jane Yolen, she says we should write what makes US happy, because, "You are-- after all--the very first reader of what you write. Please that reader. You may not have any other." I didn't find that very joyful to consider at the time, but I understand she's trying to get us to think about enjoying the process of writing, not just seeking the end result of being published.

I've read many, many books on writing and few of them suggest that you will be able to give up your day job. Most writers will always need that other income. But still! It's a hard hit to take after you're already feeling guilty about watching Glee instead of writing dutifully! On top of a lousy day, too.

I share this NOT to depress you, too, but to share with you my journey as a writer. This is part of it-- that heavy feeling that I'm kidding myself, that this will never work. I bet lots of writers struggle with it. The question, "Why bother?" has haunted me all day. Some days, everything seems possible. This is not one of those days.

But somehow, even in the face of news like this, I want to keep going. So I will.

Finding Time to Write

2010-07-20T10:48:00.001-07:00

I was at a local SCBWI meeting the other day, which was a fabulous meeting. One of the speakers was Kristi Holl, who spoke about organization and finding time for writing. Kristi knows what she's talking about-- she's the author of 35 books! She's also raised four kids while struggling with a chronic pain condition.

According to Kristi, she succeeded in large part by being flexible. She worked her writing into her life as a mom instead of demanding that her young children work around her schedule. This is so much more feasible for me than spending hours in my office writing each day. That just isn't going to happen--I chose to stay home with them to BE with them. But that doesn't mean I can't keep writing! Kristi finished manuscripts while waiting in the stands during the kids' athletic practices. She finished manuscripts while in the waiting room of her daughter's dentist. She made the time to write. Her book, Writer's First Aid, covers many of the practical techniques and tips she used to get so much accomplished while still being present for her kids. She didn't just shut the door and say, "Come back in four hours." She lived everyday life with them and still wrote. What an inspiration! She also gave us an awesome handout with a list of books about time management and organization. You can find a similar list on her blog here.

Thanks, Kristi, for being such an encouragement!

I've not been doing very well with making time for writing, much less being flexible in when and where I write, so this is a good goal for me. I'm going to set a timer for 20-30 minutes each day and write for that period of time, even if it's in between dinner and bathtime for the kids or while I am waiting for them during swim lessons. (Maybe this can be a great excuse to finally buy a laptop so I can take my writing everywhere with me! :) )

If you are struggling with making time to write, perhaps you'd like to set a small goal to help you write more often. I'd also love to hear what works for you, if making time to write each day is not an area you struggle with!

How NOT to be a Helpful Critique Partner

2010-07-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after I posted about being a critique partner, I was reading a blog called The Undeveloped Story, by Melissa, a fellow writer on the journey. She has a recent post that illustrates perfectly what a BAD critic can be like. I think anyone who plans on critiquing could really benefit from seeing how it feels to receive such an unhelpful critique-- thanks, Melissa, for sharing.

I thought it went perfectly with yesterday's topic and asked her permission to link to her blogpost.

Critic Boy Strikes Again

Check it out and enjoy the rest of her blog while you are there!

Being a Helpful Critique Partner

2010-07-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

I've been a part of two critique groups and am currently a critique buddy of Fabulous Writer Friend. I taught writing in the elementary and middle school grades and worked with hundreds of stories and essays by my students. I write for assessment companies and sometimes they'll send the stories back for revision with comments. I've had helpful comments and some very not helpful comments. I've learned a lot about how to help others from the help others have-- and haven't-- given me as a writer.

How do you give helpful feedback? I think the key is to find the purpose and balance.

1. Purpose-- What stage is your writing partner at? If he/she is drafting, this is not the time to red-line through the whole thing. You need to watch out for things like credible character development, plot construction, point of view and voice. Big things. If they are polishing a final draft, you'll need to keep an eye out for more detailed kinds of things-- are they repeating a sentence structure too often? Are their verbs as precise as they can be? But it doesn't do much good to nit-pick on punctuation if their draft has a huge hole in the plot that you overlook in your fervor to catch every pronoun without a clear antecedent. The best way to know this is to ask them. "What kind of feedback are you looking for?" If they've been writing for very long, they can tell you.

2. Balance-- Any writer needs both encouragement and constructive criticism. Note the word "constructive." Here are some non-constructive criticisms-- real life-- I've received from people I've worked with as a freelance writer.

"This doesn't work."
"Clever title-- needs to be changed."
"This simile falls flat."

Boy, laying all that out there is sort of painful. Luckily, though, I more often receive nice comments (and I keep selling my work, which is the best compliment) and sometimes helpful comments such as, "This dialogue reads too old for the protagonist, probably because of this vocabulary word here. You might consider changing it." Or "This stanza feels like it's repeating the same theme of the previous without adding anything new. The word length is quite long for a poem for this age group, so you could cut this stanza without losing any impact." And she was RIGHT.

Whenever I get constructive criticism, it may sting for a moment, but there's this lovely "AH-HAH! That's IT!" feeling. A writer can recognize the truth in a statement that helps her writing and be grateful to receive it. Insulting feedback only hurts and makes writers feel defensive and want to quit. If you have a partner who is doing that to you, find someone else to critique your work. And if you are critiquing, remember it's really easy to hurt someone when you are leaving remarks on their document. Remember they can't hear your tone or see your smile to soften what you say. Be gentle, even if you have to tell them there's a major problem. Treat others as you would like to be treated.

What I've found to be a helpful tool is to use the Comment tool as I read. Anything that stands out to me as a reader, good or bad, I leave a comment on. I don't usually make suggestions about how to improve problem areas unless it's really clear-- I just note that something confused me. I do not want to tell a writer how to write their story. That is vanity. I've had a few people rewrite so much of a page that it doesn't sound like me anymore. It sounds like them. That wasn't helpful. But I've also had people just be a cheerleader through my work. It feels GREAT. "Awesome line!" "I love this!" Who wouldn't want to read that? But if that's ALL you get, your work isn't going to improve.

And the goal, is, of course, to improve. Even if a writer never gets published, to improve one's craft as a writer is always a worthy goal to pursue.

It's...ALIVE?

2010-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

So, it's been over a year since my last posting. I had no idea. I really did stop writing for a long time, at least my own personal writing. I continued writing passages for assessment companies, as that pays the bills, and that writing took about all the creative juice I had left in me.

Then a friend I will call Fabulous Writer Friend asked me to be her critique buddy and read her current work-in-progress. Reading and commenting on her work stirred up all that exciting stuff about writing...the way words flow together, that magic of creating your own world, watching your characters do things you didn't expect...and I began to think about my own work. I pulled out my old manuscripts. Then I got a notice about an upcoming writing conference held by our local chapter of SCBWI. Critiques were available for members, of which I am one. It gave me the motivation to get involved again. It's not that I've done ZERO writing of my own. I actually did write a picture book manuscript and sent it off to about five agents and got rejected five times and then quit for a long time. And the last time I went to a conference, they suggested the middle of my fantasy MG novel needed a new twist, so I tried to add one and it totally didn't work. I began another MG manuscript, this one contemporary with some poetry in there. I liked it, but it's probably too...blah. No good hook for it. So I put it away, too. Then I decided that I would probably never be successful and I should just use my time on other projects. I watched True Blood and Dexter and LOST and admired their story-telling abilities. I read numerous books. I tried to catch up on my sleep.

The problem? I MISSED WRITING. Not so much the actual butt-in-chair of writing. It's fun once it gets going, but getting started can feel like pulling fingernails out with pliers, one at a time. But reading books on writing? Oh, how I love it. So Fabulous Writing Friend said, "Hey, I'm reading this book called Fire in the Fiction. How about you get it and we can discuss a chapter at a time?" Awesome! So while I was ordering that, I happened across another cool website that recommended another cool book (which I will post later) and I ordered that. And then that website had another book on it that I liked the looks of, so I ordered that. And so now I have three books on writing, well, four, really, and I'll tell you more about them as I get to them. I've also been enjoying reading a lot, even rereading mindless brain-candy type of writing because...well, I enjoy it. But I think I may be ready to jump in again to the world of writing my own stuff. It always calls me back. I'm pretty short-term when it comes to most projects. I am easily distracted and get bored fast. But writing is so complex that it always fascinates. That's just one of it's many lures! So, in that spirit, I will be reviving this blog. Hope you will join me. :)

Writer's Block

2009-06-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this is writer's block, but I don't want to write these days. I just want to immerse myself in other people's books and focus on homeschooling details. Yet I've also got Orsen Scott Card's book Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy open on my nightstand...and I have plans to attend a one day workshop in Austin on fiction writing (in October.) So, even though I'm doing next to no writing, maybe my brain is still working on things. At a very deep level. That I'm just totally unaware of. Maybe? :) So, that's why there's been no posts for six weeks. I think that if I DO get an urge to write, I'll direct it towards working on a manuscript or journaling instead of this blog, so I probably won't be writing many posts in the near future. Just letting you know.

Stuck in the middle

2009-05-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Have you ever dug yourself into a deep pit and then realized you didn't bring a ladder? That's how I'm feeling right now as I strive to figure out what to do with the middle of my story.

I took some advice from the conference and ran with it, so now I've got this major event in the middle of my story that sounds cool on the surface, until I try to figure out all the practical details of it. Hmmmm. I keep hoping if I let it percolate a bit, some sudden burst of inspiration will occur to me. I remind myself that Stephen King was once afraid he was going to lose his manuscript of The Stand when he was like 500 pages into it, because his plot line was getting too confusing and his character cast was too cumbersome (which is not my problem at the moment.) Then he got this idea on a plane ride and literally scribbled it down on a cocktail napkin because he was so afraid he'd forget it. And presto--this brainstorm solved all his plot and character problems and he finished the rest of the mammoth story off in a relatively short period of time and it is often called his best work.

So I maintain hope. It can still work.

SCBWI Conference in Austin...whew!

2009-04-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

So I am home from the SCBWI conference in Austin: a big, long, exhausting, exciting, stimulating day! The publishers and editors at Bloomingtree Press were kind enough to spend their day talking to us about writing for the children's market, which includes picture books through YA. I also had two critiques done by two different people from the publishing house. Both said similar things. On the positive side, both complemented my writing, the actual word choice and sentence structure, etc. One even said my prose was "powerful and strong." !!!

On the other side, apparently, I really need to ditch the whole last half of my novel or, at the very least, insert something exciting, thrilling and otherwise tension-building into the middle of my novel. The "sagging middle" is a common occurence that I have fallen victim to. I knew I found the middle part...less interesting than the rest, but I didn't realize it needed more than cosmetic surgery. It needed an organ transplant. I have an idea and am excited about the possibilities, which is the best thing yet. I want to be so excited about the story as it unfolds that I am not even particularly worried about what may happen when I finish the manuscript.

More later-- I've spent all day focused on writing. Now I'm going to go focus on being a wife and a mother!

Nikki gets to stay a girl

2009-04-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

After receiving comments from a couple of people reading my manuscript, I have decided to keep Nikki as she is, tone down some of the romantic tension in there to keep it firmly "upper middle grade" and move on to working on the last half of the story, which needs some serious work. Thank you to all of you who listened to me go on and on about the pros and cons of Nikki v. Nick. I thought you deserved to know the outcome!

I probably will be posting even less than before (is that possible?) because of time contraints while work (not on my writing, on assessment writing) is busy. But thanks to Dawn for her lovely Sisterhood Award and for calling me her Writer Friend. :) That just made my day.

Sisterhood Awards

2009-04-13T16:39:00.001-07:00

This is something I should have done weeks ago, but in honor of my receiving one from Sardine Mama at Sardines in a Can, I am supposed to give out my own SisterHood awards to women bloggers we admire. Here are my top five in no particular order:

Of course:

Sardines in a Can-- I've learned more about mothering than you would believe from this woman and it's always fun to read her blog!

Little Owl Learning-- As a fellow homeschooler and attachment parenting mom, I enjoy reading the exploits of their family and admire how much Owl Mama strives to provide the best for her kids.

Grateful for Grace-- Such an honest blogger, willing to open her life to us! I admire this mama for her firm convictions about her faith and her ability to listen to people with this amazing focus. She is also the first person who showed me homeschooling was a real option that created cool kids. :) We don't get to see each other very often at all, but whenever we do, I feel like I just saw her! And she captures the cutest things her kids say.

Sufficient for Today-- SO I just read that Dawn is giving up her blog, at least for a while. BUMMER!!!! But I can admire that. I've been away for a while, too. But I admire her so much and enjoyed her postings that I am going to list her blog here anyway! So there! You can enjoy all the archived posts.

Mami de Paz-- I love that this woman is working so hard on learning to speak clearly and directly in a peaceful manner that respects all around her while still meets her own needs. She has three sons (within 3 years) and her patience is a model for me!

Cynsations-- This woman runs the most amazing site for anyone interested in children's, middle grade, or YA literature. Just amazing. She is a published author herself and knows her stuff. Many excellent interviews with agents and editors! I had the good fortune to meet her at a conference (Author and Editor critique day-- she was the author) and so even though we don't really know each other, I still feel she deserves this award. :)

That was six, huh? Well, hey, I think it was supposed to be 10 originally, but I'm out of time!

ETA: I remembered when I saw Dawn's lovely post (Thank you, Dawn) that I was supposed to post this part, too. I also cannot get the logo loaded and have tried several times. Oh well!

The rules of the “Sisterhood Award” are:1. Put the logo on your blog or post.2. Nominate at least 10 people whose blogs you enjoy.3. Provide a link to your nominees within your post.4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blogs.5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person who has nominated you for the award.

Lightning Thief to be made into a movie!

2009-04-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to local San Antonio author, Rick Riordan, whose novel The Lightning Thief, the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, will be made into a movie. It is schedule to be released in 2010 and I saw about it in Entertainment Weekly. Whoot whoot to our local author! I enjoyed Lightning Thief in part because I adore Greek mythology--it's so clever the way he weaves it in into a modern story setting. If I still taught in the classroom, we'd totally read this novel. Check it out-- go get yourself a copy!

Sex change for Nikki?

2009-03-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know my friend Nikki, this is not who I'm talking about!

I have a character, an important character, in my manuscript named Nikki. I like her and I like what she brings to the story...but her presence has pushed my story into the realm, barely, of YA and that is making it difficult for me to imagine how this book would be received by any publisher. I hear they really want to know, "Where would this book go on a shelf in a bookstore?" I don't think they want to hear, "This is older-middle-grade-younger-YA."

BUT.

If Nikki were to be Nick, and the sub-plot was allowing Brian to finally trust a friend for the first time in his life, I think the book would be solidly middle grade, even though the ending might be pushing things. But with Nikki in there and the attraction between her and Brian, even if it's not really acted on, I'm suddenly wondering if I need to up Brian's age to 15 and up the tension in areas to make it more YA. Yet in my heart, I think Brian's age is important to what he's wrestling with and that is is, truly, an upper-middle grade novel, if such a thing can exist.

I've also read there is a new genre developing, one that fits between middle grade and YA. I think this story fits right in there. I just don't know if that genre is going to bloom anytime soon! In the meantime, I've got to decide: Nikki...or Nick?

Everworld, Gateway to the Gods, by K.A. Applegate

2009-03-17T06:24:00.000-07:00

I picked this book up at a garage sale, not realizing it is book 7 in a series. She tells the backstory so well that it took me several chapters to finally figure this out! That's impressive. Or just pathetic about me.

The story is of four friends and one other girl who are trapped in another universe, Everworld, where the Greek gods are. They are trying to save Zeus and crew. They have their "other selves" that are still living on Earth, doing their daily stuff, which is an interesting thought, and when they sleep, they go back in their minds to that self. At first, I wasn't sure if this was MG or YA, which is always a fascinating topic for me since it's what I'm struggling with most in my own manuscript right now. The voice of the girl feels like a middle grader to me (or young YA), but she could be older and I just didn't realize it. I think I was thrown by the similiaries in basic plot (Olympians) to Percy and the Olympians, which even though I sometimes see as a YA, I argue is really a middle grade. BUT in this story, the girl is wrestling with her faith in God (she is Catholic) verses her ability to trust in Athena...which is a YA topic...but there is really no romance happening here, even though you've got 3 guys and 1 girl in life threatening situations. She might have a crush on one of the guys, but it's subtle in this book. I can't speak for the earlier books. Based on the excerpt from book 8, the narrator rotates among the character, which is interesting, but I'm not sure I'd love it. As a female, I immediately connected with April-- her voice felt very realistic. The action moved along quickly and I found the book to be an enjoyable read. Recommended!
(Final note: the cover is creepy for small children.)

Genre Fiction

2009-03-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

I must confess: when someone asks what my manuscript is about, I hem and haw. I really don't want to say it is has anything to do with shape shifters. I love books about vampires, shape shifters, witches, you name it. Fantasy, sci fi, paranormal romance, whatever. Love them. But somehow, spitting out the words that I have written one feels like trying to chew up a whole pumpkin all at once. Is this pride? Stephen King talks about this in his novel On Writing-- that shame that he felt as a writer of trade fiction...until he finally decided this was just what he was made to write and he got over it. (I do love S. King.) I have great admiration for literary works, novels full of beautiful language that just sings on the page and deal with Greater Truths. But the truth is...I don't read many of those. What do I read? Fantasies, science fiction, paranormal romance...

For those of you who write, do you struggle with this, too?

Critique groups...what makes a good one?

2009-03-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about critique groups recently. I know that while Stephen King doesn't think they are necessary, not everyone is a Stephen King. I'm at a point in my manuscript where I could really use some advice, especially from people who are familiar with middle grade, young adult and the differences therein. I think the challenge is to find someone or a group who is a safe group, but also a helpful group. By safe, I mean these people know how to give constructive criticism without any mean spirit, no sense of "I'm going to tear this person down just for the hell of it." Many people like to offer off-handed remarks about what they think should be changed in a story...I think suggestions of that kind need to be very thoughtfully considered before casually tossed out there. "I think you need to kill of that character," for example or "I think the whole setting is just wrong." These do not help when not offered with thoughtful reasons. I think there needs to be trust built up, that this person really is rooting for you and your book. There is also the very important quality of being able to help...there are many people who enjoy good books but don't necessarily know how to help you pinpoint what isn't working with yours.

I've never joined a writer's group before, but I applied to an on-line critique group through SCBWI and I got the email today saying I was accepted! You had to submit the first three pages of your manuscript to be accepted--invitation only, because they wanted intermediate writers-- and I keep feeling like surely there must be some mistake that I made it! I went and read the introductions of the others and they all seem far more impressive than me. However...a book I'm reading right now by Martha Beck keeps talking about the importance of relevent risk in any life endeavor. If I want to improve as a writer-- and I do-- then the best way to that path right now, I think, is to open my work to the opinions of other writers who write for the same audience I do. This is a huge step for me, but it is exciting! It could turn out to be hurtful or scary or who knows what...but it's a risk I'm going to take!

Novel Metamorphasis

2009-03-08T18:37:00.001-07:00

Novel Metamorphasis is a book by Darcy Pattison (who wrote The Wayfinder, which I read because she wrote this book and I wanted to see what her writing was like before I bought it) all about revising a complete manuscript. Mine is still pretty rough, but I think it counts as complete, so I started in on her book today. It's WORK! But the very good kind of work. Trying to write down just one thing that is the heart of my story is almost as hard as writing a 25 word sentence describing my story. Tonight I spent time writing out one sentence summaries of each chapter with another sentence describing the primary emotions in each chapter (again, much harder than it sounds)...she has a little form to help you and everything. So far, the book is well worth the money and I've only done two of the exercises! So I'm feeling very good tonight! May your own writing work be enjoyable tonight! You may want to take a look at her workbook here:

http://www.darcypattison.com/books/novel-metamorphosis/

Revise or Draft?

2009-03-07T18:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm torn. I have one complete draft of a fantasy middle grade novel that I know needs a good amount of work during revision. I am also drafting a second manuscript, a contemporary YA, and I want to keep working on that, too. I bought a new book called Novel Metamorphasis, by Darcy Pattison, on revising, that is calling to me, too. I love stuff that makes you roll up your sleeves and draw on your text...boxes, highlighters, you name it. My husband is at the movies and the girls are asleep-- it's the perfect time for some serious work getting done! But I'm just not sure which kind. Stephen King says he drafts in the morning on his current project and then uses the afternoon for revision on whatever project is under revision at that time...but I'm not Stephen King and my pockets of time that are silent and full of possibilities are few. So...I think I'll draft and see where it takes me...I think that when I quiet myself and listen to my heart, that's what it's telling me to do first. So off I go...

Ways to Procrastinate

2009-03-07T11:55:00.000-08:00

Instead of writing, you might try one of the following activities. I have found them to be very useful when procrastinating, even when I'm doing it unconsciously.

1. Create a blog. Post a lot.
2. Join Facebook. Post a lot.
3. Join many yahoo boards or other bullitan boards. Post a lot.
4. Spend plenty of time reading other people's blogs on writing.
5. Read sites like SCBWI so you can feel good about your time not being spent writing.

Of course, everyone needs breaks from writing-- I think I need more than average. But...there are times when thinking about writing, at least for me, gets in the way of writing. It is one of my biggest challenges to overcome as a writer, I think, at least at this stage when I just need to write the bleeping story. Anyone else?

About my (now) three favorite writing blogs

2009-03-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

My very favorite writing blog is:
http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/

Nathan Bransford is an agent who, for some reason, feels called to help us newbie writer types with all sorts of amazingly helpful info. He's like Spiderman for writers, especially new ones. His blog posts are short, helpful and hilarious. I highly recommend. Furthermore, I somehow managed to sign up to get the blogs right to my inbox, which is great because I'm often too lazy to go check out other writer sites that I know would be really helpful. Nathan B. is also one of the few agents I've read of who will take email queries. Definitely check out his FAQ section...he has excellent examples of good/bad query letters, general rules of the game, and thoughts on the publishing industry at large. He is also the reason I have considered maybe one day owning a Kindle or something like it-- a huge leap for me!

Next, Cynsations, by Cynthia Leitich Smith is chock full of interviews, articles and helpful information on writing, especially for the world of children, middle grade, and YA writing! Many wonderful links to other writing resources and blogs are present. It's a very professional site.
http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/
I have had the pleasure of meeting Cynthia in person at a writing event and she is just incredibly kind and enthusiastic-- one more reason to support her blog! I've learned a lot from reading her interviews with agents and editors, learning what differnet people are looking for and not looking for right from their own lips. Her site is a treasure trove not to be missed. It's so much information that at first it can be overwhelming if you are a research hound like me, because you know you can spend hours and hours and still have more to read and learn.

In combination, these two sites work really well for me. I get short almost daily information from Nathan Bransford's site, sometimes on writing and sometimes on the publishing world, and when I get time, I delve into Cynthia's site for lots of practical tips, useful articles and interviews, and tons of links to other delicious blogs and resources.

A new site I discovered just TODAY thanks to Nathan's site is http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

I can already tell I am going to LOVE her posts-- there is a very encouraging post about the stay-at-home-mom years and an excellent post on why it's important to read and learn about the publishing business and individual agents and editors before you start trying to query everyone under the sun. Thanks to Nathan for sharing Rachelle Gardner!

Check them out!

What I learned at a "Get Your Book Published" community ed class

2009-03-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tonight I learned that I have learned a lot about the book industry in the last year since I first resolved to finish my manuscript and get serious about my writing. Last January ('08) I joined SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.) Then in May, I went to a conference and then in the fall, I attended an author/editor critique day. I've developed a recent writing partner relationship and have allowed other people to critique my work. Throughout all of this, I was subscribing to writing threads, reading books on writing, reading books on publishing and slowly researching question after question.

Tonight was a wonderful validation. I still learned a couple of new things and was reminded of several more, but as I sat there, listening to this woman who has published 22 titles, I was amazed that I could actually answer questions she couldn't-- not because I'm so smart, but because I've worked hard and done my research in the field that interests me: middle grade and YA fiction. She published non-fiction for grown ups...there were a number of people in that room who wanted to write fiction and they had only the vaguest ideas of what they wanted to write, but many mentioned writing for children or young adults. That class might have been, for them, a first step, an active risk, to show up at all. I applaud them all.

I'm still pretty wet behind the ears myself. I may have finished a manuscript, but it's full of plot pot holes the size of Nebraska. I am working on another story and have ideas for marketing, but it's not done and making time to work on it continues to be a challenge. But tonight made me stop and look back and realize-- I really have grown! Yay! My new year's resolution for last year set in motion a chain of events and choices that have led me to a much greater awareness of the world of writing. Even if I'm never published, that's something I can be grateful for every day-- because despite all the grim odds, I get to write, people!

Huh?

2008-12-24T20:02:00.000-08:00

I am really feeling out of touch with technology. I'm not even sure I can figure out how to post this. Well, no time like the present to try!