WIFYR Day 3. Doors of No Return

Another fantastic day!

These take-aways came from Cheri Pray Earl's workshop.

What is a Door of No Return?
When your character makes a choice, and can't undo it. In other words, she can not un-know what she now knows, and she can't un-see what she has seen.

The 1st Door of No Return happens between the Introduction (Act 1) and Act 2.

The 2nd Door of No Return happens before the climax and moves your character in the final conflict.

Conflict
Must be driven by each character's wants and needs. After you establish the conflicts, raise the stakes, and increase the tension, then go back and make the conflicts worse.

Chapters/plot
Each chapter begins with your main character dealing with a particular emotional state and dealing with a problem.

Basically, today workshops involved ensuring that our characters suffered, and then suffered even more. All in the name of growth and a movement toward a more satisfying resolution.

Yay for growth!

WIFYR Day 2. Crucibles and Take-Aways

WIFYR led me through another amazing day in this writing journey.

Through a series of critiques and discussion in my morning workshop being led by the amazing Kathryn Purdie, I had 3 major take-aways. (Actually, there were lots more, but on account of the late hour, and another writing deadline due before tomorrow, I'm abiding by the Rule of 3.)

Take-Away 1. How can writing from a 13-year-old point of view help you tell your story (for any memory, which can then be translated into your story's scene). I'm writing an upper middle-grade, so I chose a young age. Authors of YA, would choose memories from an older age.

Take-Away 2. The details, and particularly the "telling details," trigger memories of moments for use in a story. The emotions associated with those memories naturally flow as you write them.

Take-Away 3. Crucibles can be emotional or physical. They can be used in a single scene or extended over an entire book. Actually, you should have at least one crucible extended over the entire book. What is a crucible? A crucible is an emotional or physical "vessel" where characters are stuck together. An emotional crucible could be relationship, as in mother/daughter. A physical crucible could be a room, a house, an island, a train. If you want to know more abut what a crucible is as a writing device in a novel, you have your first assignment. Look into it!

Lastly, during the WIFYR writing prompt today, I decided to write a short snippet of scene that will be added to the climax in my current WIP. And yes, this scene hinges on one of the novel's main crucibles.

The realization that the car sitting in the driveway doesn't belong washes over me as soon as Mother pushes her way through the screen door. Head down, feet racing over each step, she closes the distance, anchors her hands like bookends on each of my shoulders. Her touch seems foreign, as my mind lifts away.  I see him standing in the window. Even before he turns in my direction, I know who it is. Why he's come.

I'm not sure I'm ready. I'm not sure I remember how to breathe.

Spring into Writing

It's here.

Don't let the snow fool you. This is springtime in the mountains.
#SnowShoeing Last weekend

After what has been a long winter with days made gray by skies capped with heavy clouds, SPRING is standing on my doorstep -- threading its yellow light across my lawn, nudging the crocus flowers from the flowerbeds, and urging the tulip flowers that are still sleeping in bulbs beneath them to take notice.

In my yard, salmon pinks will follow purple.

These small events... that make SPRINGTIME springy... make me happy.

They awaken the creative sparks, leading me in slightly new directions, allowing me to see manuscripts I've been working on in new ways, making the revision process more crisp and fresh.

With such feelings stirring, it seems near impossible to do anything but breathe more life into the characters that have been reaching out from the page.

Which means it's time for spring cleaning. Or rather, re-energizing.

For that, I'm springing into my writer's chair at my writing desk and tackling a new list, which really is nothing more than the same old list, but with more verve.

1. Write. Write new. Write fast. Write now by visiting the ideas for picture books I've jotted down in notebooks over the last few months at different conferences and in different settings. Choose 10 of the best ideas and crank out rough drafts for at least 5.

2. Write more. Write with focus. Write with intention. Start with the most promising draft from above and revise that into a 1st draft to work on. Repeat for the others.

3. Write through Resting. While those manuscripts simmer on the back burner through April, work on finishing the first draft of the middle grade I've got going.

A full sunbow (like a rainbow
 and a moon bow) encircled the sun during our trek

4. Revise and Restock. I write most of my drafts in notebooks, so I'll have to allow time for restocking ink. Jetstream pens are my favorite. And one of them ran out of ink today. (Which is good, because it means I've been writing). (But I'm okay for now because I've got pens in bundles. Well, 6 to be exact.)

5. Assess my spring and summer calendars. Set goals, plan ahead to make deadlines. Summer won't last forever and I want to make the most of it.

6. Continue sharing and learning what I can from my writing groups and critiques and conferences. Yes, Write.

7. Keep writing, and keep reading, and repeat.

Happy Springtime!

View from a snowshoe trek last weekend above Bear Lake, Utah, #AllSnowAndSunshine

Embrace your writing group. How-to advice for critiquing.

In June I attended the week-long writing conference affectionately known as wiffer, a.k.a., WIFYR (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers). Throughout the week friendships developed, connections were made, and after it was over, attendees from the picture book writing class that I attended talked about forming a critique group in order to continue getting feedback. (Yes, I also doodled).

During this discussion a link to a blog article about the dangers of writing groups was shared among my fellow writers (https://www.janefriedman.com/dangers-of-writing-groups). In the post 3 perceived dangers were addressed by Jane Friedman: 
1) not getting the truth  
2) getting advice from struggling writers 
3) failure.

Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to work with different critique groups and different writers, including Jim Fergus, author of Ten Thousand White Women, The Journals of May Dodd, who lured me into this whole writing game in the first place for a nonfiction project we never finished, and children's author Rick Walton whom we lost almost two years ago. While I always welcome good advice such as what was offered Friedman's article, I disagreed with some points that were shared. Because I felt the article would negatively affect our group as it was forming, I shared my perspective with them. Some of my colleagues suggested I share my perspective on my blog, so here we go. Feel free to share your own opinions after reading both posts. Or don't, and simply reflect on how you can be a better participant in your own group.

1) Telling the truth. According to the Dangers of Writing Groups blog post, this is rarely done because writers don't want to hurt the feelings of fellow colleagues. Thus, if a writer isn't receiving criticism and not hearing the truth, then writers groups simply continue to foster a bad manuscript as they critique it. Here, again, I disagree, not because it doesn't happen, but because receiving honest feedback is up to you as a writer. It's up to you to ask questions as feedback is offered in order for to learn the truth about the status of your manuscript. And Mrs. Friedman offers helpful questions to guide that process.

However, it's important to keep in mind that not everything offered in a writer's group is truth. Even if it sounds strong and direct and hurts to hear. Truth is personal and emotionally-based and everyone has their own experiences. In determining a manuscript's flaws, the writer needs to learn how to ask questions like, What is working? What is unlikeable? How is the character perceived? 

Questions provide guidance in  figuring out what is good and what is not so good. Again, it's your job as a writer to flesh that out as you get feedback from your readers. And if something hurts as you hear it, it is your job to push past those feelings, step back, and see where the kernel of truth in the criticism may lay.

Also, as far as truth goes, I don't ever expect to get it from family members because they all say my writing is wonderful, even when it's not, simply because they are wired to read it with those kind of eyes. (They seem to like my baking, so the admiration of the writing must be inexplicably linked.) So if your critique group is comprised of your mother and children, then find another group... although this kind of group probably works for Carol Lynch Williams, who has some daughters that are writers. But not all of us are blessed enough to birth our own writer's group. :)

2) Getting advice from struggling writers is not recommended, and on this I disagree. New writers may be unpublished, but provided they have a basic background in understanding the publishing industry and have attended workshops/conferences, then they can be an asset to a group because they are readers--particularly if they are readers of your genre and are now taking time to study it. Furthermore, readers who aren't writers ultimately respond to your work. Thus, it is up to you as a writer to learn the craft of writing and all the techniques that go into delivering your particular style. It is not up to the members of your writing group. And as Ms. Friedman's article states, it is up to you as a writer to address specific questions about your manuscript during the critiquing process that help address problems. Then, after hearing suggestions, it is up to you to decide how to make any modifications yourself. 

If you take a suggestion and it doesn't work, then it is also up to you to recognize that mistake after you step back and look at your manuscript with fresh eyes. It is also up to you to maintain your own voice as you incorporate suggestions from others. I don't really believe a writer can blame their critique group for poor revisions, if they find themselves with a manuscript they don't recognize or want to lay claim to. Writers are the captains of their own ship. (And since I'm sailor, I can say this is true - cliche and all).

As a writer who has been in different writing groups over the years, I believe the feedback I got from those that wanted to give it was useful and helped me achieve the successes I had. Whether I incorporated every suggestion wasn't important, because suggestions -- good and bad -- allowed me to see my work through another reader's eyes. 

Thus, while I wouldn't recommend welcoming every person into your group that walks off the street, I wouldn't steer clear of a writer simply because they are unpublished, particularly if they read your genre.

3. Failure to recognize failure with the big-picture of a story because critique groups only see one slice at a time. While this may be true, it doesn't mean the plot holes can't be fixed. Again, honing down the plot is a job that needs to be worked out by the writer in whatever way they see fit to do it. But this doesn't mean that a well-crafted scene can't be celebrated within a critique group meeting. Reading great writing is what keeps us all striving to create more.

All in all, if you find a critique group that works for you, you need to love and nurture it like a pet. Writing is a hard, frustrating, and lonesome process that is met mostly with failure until things start working, so be sure to let your fellow writers know what you love about them, their stories, and their characters all the time. 

Give good feedback right alongside with difficult feedback, otherwise, you'll just push them away.  After all, we are not working for PIXAR and getting a paycheck to help massage the hard days when we are told everything we have created sucks, unlike the employees in Creativity, Inc. I suspect there is a big difference in the emotional journey between a Pixar artist and writers who work on their own, so be sure to take care of yourself and your fellows, no matter where you are at.

Be patient. 

Be kind. 

Be persistent.

Be professional.

Eat Chocolate. And fill the page.

The Proper Care and Feeding of Your Character

In mid-June I spent a week at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference (WIFYR) and was lucky to spend some time in Ken Baker's writing workshop. Ken is the author of several picture books for children such as Old MacDonald Had a Dragon, Brave Little Monster, and Cow Can't Sleep. His newest, How to Care for Your T-Rex will be released in April 2019.

In his workshop, Ken focused on how writers can create engaging characters. I am sure if you were to list some of your favorite characters, you would find that they harbor some common traits such as persistence, unique talents, compassion, wit, spontaneity, and unpredictability, along with some strong inner conflicts. In Writing the Break Out Novel, Donald Maass says that unforgettable characters whom readers end up talking about for years act in unusual and unexpected ways that are dramatic and irreversible. Characters like Charlie Bucket, Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen come to mind, along with Olivia, SkippyJon Jones, and Mother Bruce.

But how exactly do writers begin to create those kinds of characters? Have you heard the phrase, "It builds character?" Hopefully, you have because I heard these words a lot growing up; and I hope it wasn't because I was a frequent complainer of long chore lists, or because I had the unlucky habit of getting into trouble. But like raising kids, creating characters doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen in a first draft. Interesting characters come with a lot of back-story or baggage--however you want to look at it, so figuring out exactly who your character is takes a bit of digging--before, during, and maybe even after you're done writing--and Ken's workshop helped me see how to do that with a variety of different exercises.

One writing exercise that I found especially powerful for creating picture books involved making and comparing lists. Ken had us brainstorm a list of things that our character wants. This list was followed with a list of things that children want.  Then we compared the two. It became immediately clear that when writing for children, our character wants/needs should probably mirror those of child. I suppose this exercise would hold true for whatever audience you write for. This exercise helped me sharpen a couple of my manuscripts with some subtle word changes. It also helped clarify the underlying themes my stories were based on.

A second writing exercise involved comparing two other lists we made. One of admirable or likable qualities of our character versus one of traits or obstacles that are in direct opposition to those qualities. The most surprising outcome of this exercise was that I saw I could actually write my manuscript-in-progress from two different perspectives -- that of the character I was focusing on, or that of the opposing set of characters he was up against. Either way, I saw that I had two equally interesting approaches to one problem, depending on which Point-of-View I wanted to take. And since I am in love with both characters in the story, I was intrigued by this idea.

I'd be interested to hear the results that other writers have with these exercises, as well as any tricks that you use to dig deeper in character development.

Ken has loads of writing resources and information on his  website, so be sure to check it out. You can also find him on twitter @KenBakerBooks and facebook https://www.facebook.com/kenbakerbooks/

Happy writing!

Children's Nonfiction Picture Books. Notes from the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference with Author Sharlee Glann

I spent last week at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference (WIFYR 2018) where I participated in the picture book writing class taught by author Sharlee Glenn.

I met Sharlee many years ago when I was first starting out on this writing journey, and I was so excited for the chance to reconnect with her in a small, week-long class where I could benefit from and become inspired by her wisdom, insights and experiences. I was also able to attend other classes taught by other authors in the afternoons, and I will be sharing bits of what I learned from them in later posts. But today, I am going to focus on Sharlee.

Sharlee Glenn's books include Keeping Up With Roo, Just What Mama Needs, One in a Billion,  Library on Wheels, which is her latest, hot-off-the-press nonfiction picture book, and Beyond the Green, which is a middle-grade novel scheduled for publication this coming fall 2018.

I absolutely love Library on Wheels for several reasons. First, it is about the very first mobile library in America, which many readers would recognize as a bookmobile. Need I say more? How cool is that? Bookmobiles have been a huge part of little Cache Valley, Utah, where I've lived for more than 25 years.

Second, the first mobile library was developed by Mary Lemist Witcomb who hails from my home state, New Hampshire. I love New Hampshire, return to it every year for a visit, and loved seeing the historic photos of places I recognized.

Third, I love the story of Sharlee's personal connection to the mobile library. Having grown up in rural Utah, Sharlee says she would not be the writer she is today were it not for the books that the mobile library brought to her on a regular basis when she was a young girl. For me, the local library in our area also played a vital part of my childhood. We didn't use the bookmobile, but my mother would drive my brother and I to the Nashua library once a week and let us browse the books in the children's section. I remember that the books were kept in wood boxes that jigsawed around the room. I could reach down into the boxes and pull out books. It seems odd that a library would be set up this way, but that is what I remember.

My mother also brought us to different art classes at the library.  My most memorable one involved making a paper kite with a wood frame. My kite ended up being almost as large as me. It was huge, and purple and green, and hung in my bedroom for several years above my bed.

Fourth, I think most writers can attribute their writing careers to the experiences they found within libraries as children, and I believe most readers continue to hold a fondness and appreciation for libraries for similar reasons. Libraries connect us to our local communities and to the world at large through their books, their programs, and the various opportunities that librarians provide for patrons. Thus, Library on Wheels holds appeal to a wide audience--both readers and writers, and its clear, simple, and interesting text make the history of the bookmobile accessible to young readers.

As for the children's picture book market today, Sharlee shared that if you are trying to break into publishing, the nonfiction market is growing and the best opportunities may be found there. The reason for the burgeoning market is the increasing focus on teaching a quality education to all students through a common core that has been adopted in each state. As a science teacher, I can attest to the need for engaging and relevant books for the classroom.

Thus, for new and established writers that are writing for the children's book market, it may be time to tap into your own interests and see if what you are writing or what you may want to write can be connected to the nonfiction market.

If you would like to learn more about Sharlee Glenn and her work, visit her website.

If you have additional information about trends in the nonfiction market, share them in a comment below.

Happy writing!

#NANOWRIMO - Consider your setting

By now, if you are a writer going through November, you are well into the midst of it -- writing that new novel, or rewriting that old one, or writing out gobs of nonsense in-between the bursts of word-smithing genius. It is, after all, National Novel Writing Month. NANOWRIMO

In order to get to this point that you are at, it's quite probable that you put a bit of time into getting your writing environment ready. Perhaps you cleared the clutter from your desk, sharpened the pencils, adjusted the lighting, or burned some incense.... All to prepare yourself for the process of sitting down to spend the next 30 days with a set of characters that will take life on the page. Characters with wants and needs. Characters with thoughts and challenges. Characters whose decisions help shape the plot driving through the heart of your novel.

However, there is one other character that may be standing on the sidelines, waving its figurative arms as you blaze through the literary forest, all the while slamming the text madly across the page. This is a character that can add depth and persona to the story you are wanting to tell. This is a character that can definitively engage your readers and lead them to turn the pages on a deeper, more intimate level. This character happens to be your setting. And as clearly as your main character asks for chai latte to go with that buttered ham-and-cheese croissant en route to meeting whatever imminent fate awaits around the next corner, your setting has a voice that ought to be heard. Perhaps not as equally as your main character who tosses that cardboard cup, still half-full, into the trash can on her way out the door, but definitely as noticeable as the damp chill that lashes at her face as she steps on to the sidewalk, causing her to pull her jacket more tightly closed before looking left, then right, then left again.

California coast

Masterful writers engage the setting as a powerful character, whose role in the novel can add substance through subtle warnings, hints, reprimands, or rewards.

In Kim Fay's novel, The Map of Lost Memories, the setting seems like a character of its own, both mingling with and driving the emotions of the main characters.

----The night seemed to shift, as if Shanghai were settling down into its foundation. A fitful cool struggled to press in from the distant East China Sea. Irene heard propellers thrashing against the black Whangpoo River. And she wondered what in hell had just happened, while below in the dark a melon had been split, its sweetness clinging to the humid air.

Matthew Kirby introduces the strong hold of the setting that the characters must deal with in the opening lines of Icefall.

---- The fjord is freezing over. I watch it from the edge of the cliff near our hall, and each day the ice claims more of the narrow winding ocean. It squeezes out the waves and the blue-black water, while it squeezes us in. Just as Father intended it to Winter is here to wall us up, to bury us in snow, and keep us safe.

And lastly, the characters in The Underneath by Kathi Appelt are deeply connected to and affected by their environment. This connection occurs, quite literally, from in the opening lines of the story.

--- There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a little while, and then abandoned on the side of the road. A small calico cat. Her family, the one she had lived with, has left her in this old and forgotten forest, this forest where the rain is soaking into her soft fur. 
--- How long has she been walking? Hours? Days? She wasn't even sure how she got here, so far from the town where she grew up. Something about a car, something about a long drive. And now here she is. Here in this old forest where the rain slipped between the branches and settled into her fur. 

It's effective, this use of setting by a writer. It helps the story make sense. It offers a sense of perspective. It also can help establish familiarity, even in places that are new to your reader. Thus, during the quieter moments of November, take the opportunity to consider your setting. How is it faring? Are you treating it with some attention? Does it need you to look toward it with patient eyes?  Perhaps doing so will help put your novel on course for a deeper dimension.

Signs of Spring

 

The gray hues of winter finally released their grip last week, and I found myself lured out into the yard to begin spring clean up.  Once again I was pleasantly rewarded to see bursts of color poking up from last year's dead growth, which I had left behind. Our new kitten named Sky chased after her first buzzing insect, and thankfully didn't do too much damage to the new flowers she was pouncing on in the process. Sandhill cranes also kept me company as they sang their calls far overhead. They had returned from their winter feeding grounds.

These signs of spring fueled my hope that my yard may also serve as an analogy to my writing projects.  When I return to the manuscripts I've been scribbling away at all winter and carefully hone them with an editorial eye, I might be able to bright out something bright and beautiful as well.

Happy spring!

 

Happy New Year! 2014 Resolutions and Revelations

Okay, so I'm a few days late and many dollars short, given that I've just been whirled through the holidays by teens that have an insatiable thirst for activities that involve dips into my wallet where they believe lies an unlimited stash of cash. Ha! That's all I will say on the matter.

But since it is 2014, I thought I'd share a couple revelations and resolutions I've dug up in the past few days of the new year.

First, some new activities are apparently in order. My first dream of the new year was the curious nightmare of my being drafted onto the National Men's All-Star Basketball Team. Curious, yes, especially since I have never in my life played a serious game of basketball outside of PIG, HORSE, and Around the World--and I must add, never once did I ever win one of those. The self-respecting basketball-playing-brother with whom I did play in my younger years never allowed it. Which lends perfect sense to the ending to the aforementioned curious nightmare of the new year, where the dream-team captain suggested I start things off with hitting the court to practice some simple lay-ups.

Simple? This is me we are talking about. And it never ceased to boggle the mind (especially that of my 6-foot-4 basketball-playing dad) as to how I could jump onto the back of any good-natured horse within reach, but couldn't dribble a ball and manage to hop and shoot at the same time. Go figure.

Being one to never walk away from digging up the meaning of vivid dreams like this, I think I finally can say that its foundation lies in two realities. One: the fact that lately I've been watching basketball games while I run on the treadmill at the gym. This always makes time fly since the game moves too fast for me to keep track of, combined with the fact that I only have a screen to view, but no commentary to fill me in on what is going on. (No, I don't like the feeling of ear buds in my ears). So I am left running in a state of perpetual confusion and distraction -- which is a good thing, if you really don't want to know where you are at in terms of distance traveled or calories burned.

And Two: I've come to the resolution to begin seriously writing again, and since I've been out of the serious writing game for more than a couple years for more than a couple tumultuous reasons that deserve no fleshing out here -- we're all human, so you can fill in whatever details you'd like -- I am definitely going to have to start easing back in to writing with the basics. Although I do hope it is more like riding a bike, rather than learning to play a new sport like professional basketball.

Now that I've shared this resolution, I feel like I'm stepping out on to a stage, and since I've already been published and should have made a bit more progress by now, I kind of feel like the world will be watching. (But since my world is relatively small, maybe it actually won't be all that bad).

Now on to revelations. First of all, my friend Rick pointed out that 2014 is the year of the Valentine, due to the fact that it is made up of those two numbers that pinpoint that annual day of love: 2 and 14. So, that is good. I'm all for love, and now I will be reminded of it every day all year long, thanks to the astute and positive outlook of my friend Rick Walton (who happens to also be an amazing and talented children's writer -- go on, google his name for yourself, and treat a little person in your life to one of his awesome creations.)


The second revelation came to me in a chain email from my mom, who was hoping that by sharing it would bring her lots of good luck. Time will tell in that regard, but I'm sharing the tidbit of info gleaned here (and since I didn't forward the email, perhaps this will count in not breaking the chain and dousing my life with bad luck): The upcoming month of August will have 5 full weekends! This is not a common occurrence apparently. So if you like your weekends, then August will be a happy month for you. And if you're not like me, you'll probably want to start planning now~

There you have it. A resolution and a couple revelations. I feel like my welcoming in of the new year is now complete.

Happy Valentine's Year! (And feel free to share your own resolutions and/or revelations here. Because honestly, if I were to put my own items to a list, it would be rather short.)