October 31, 2008

Are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow! (See last week’s post for an explanation of NaNoWriMo.)

I received several questions when I wrote about NaNoWriMo last week, and thanks to people who wrote to share their advice with me on how to make it through the month and accomplish the 50,000-word goal. I also wanted to pass along a link to a free e-book called NaNo for the New and the Insane: A Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo by Lazette Gifford. It’s full of preparation tips as well as survival strategies for making it through the month.

Also, The Institute of Children’s Literature did an interview last week with Ann Gonzales called “NaNo Evangelism.” Ann sold the book Running for My Life (available spring, 2009) which was written in a previous NaNo month. Be sure to also check out the interview for helpful tips and inspiration.

I’ll update as we go through November, and if you’re a NaNoWriMo writer in 2008, look me up on the site. My name there is I-write-4-kidz.

October 29, 2008

Reading like a writer, I mentioned on Monday, is important because it’s another excellent way to learn writing techniques. It’s harder work than reading a book on writing or attending a how-to workshop, though, because you must do the analyzing yourself.

But if you want to grow in your craft—and shorten your learning curve with some excellent self-study—learn to read like a writer. Sounds good, but don’t know where to start?

I really didn’t either—until one writer friend said I needed to learn the skill of “close reading,” and another writer friend gave me a how-to book on close reading called Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and For Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose.

Tools and Tricks of the Masters

Long before there were creative writing workshops and MFA programs in children’s literature, how did aspiring writers learn to write? By reading the work of their predecessors and contemporaries, says Francine Prose.

In Reading Like a Writer, Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters. She cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which literature is crafted. You’ll study words, sentences, paragraphs, character, dialogue, details, gestures and more.

You learn to take things apart so you can actually see how it was all put together. You won’t have to “wonder how they did that” anymore when finishing a book that impacted you.

After you’ve read Prose’s book, you’ll never look at books the same again. You will read old favorites with a new appreciation. And you’ll read current books with an eye toward learning techniques that you can apply to your own work.

October 27, 2008

I love book clubs. If I had all the time in the world, I’d belong to several hosted in our public libraries: the general book club, the mystery book club, the women’s book club…

I’ve started several times, but then had to drop out because (1) I couldn’t keep up with the books on the list because I had other books and magazines I needed to read first, or (2) the books chosen either didn’t interest me or I actively disliked them. Life is too short to spend it reading boring or repulsive books.

Still, I love the book club atmosphere. For a writer, it’s stimulating to be in a room full of people who love books as much as you do. It’s fun to hear the differing opinions. A book I love might be detested by someone else, and vice versa. It is a good lesson for writers that you can’t please everyone with your writing, and that if one reader (editor) doesn’t like it, you have a good chance that the next one will.

This will sound like a digression at this point, but it’s not. Bear with me…it ties up in the end…

For nearly thirty years—since I was a beginning writer—I’ve known that I needed to keep up with what is being published in my genre (juvenile fiction, specifically middle grade). I have always had a terrible time doing it. When I was a brand new writer, I found it demoralizing to read the popular middle grade fiction of the day. I knew I could never measure up.

When I first started getting my books published, I just didn’t have time to read. My children were still small, I was doing so many school talks and workshops, and there was simply no extra time to read what others were publishing. I barely had time to read what I was publishing myself.

And now, when my kids are grown, there’s time to read what my peers are writing. But am I doing it? Rarely, although I want to and need to. By the time I’ve written or edited my work for the day, perhaps done a critique for someone else or written my blog entry, I want to collapse with an adult book in the evening. I want soothing Jane Austen or a gripping adult mystery.

But (and I digress back now) I do love book clubs. So…why not a marriage of the two desires?

That’s what my weekly critique group is going to start soon: a book club where we meet to discuss current children’s books being published. We’re only going to meet once a month, and we’ll probably discuss more than one children’s book each time. It will be both pleasure and work. We love talking about books we’ve enjoyed, and it will help us all keep current on what’s being published.

We’re in the process of drawing up reading lists now. Plus I’m studying a book on how to actually read “like a writer.” There’s a skill to analyzing and dissecting how an author accomplishes telling his story. But more about that Wednesday…

October 24, 2008

Does this sound like you? “I have all the books and tapes on time management and motivation, and I know what they say is true. But when I try to make the behavioral changes they suggest, there’s always this thing at the back of my mind.” (This is the opening of The Tomorrow Trap by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D.) Does this quote sound like you at all?

October 22, 2008

October 20, 2008

Ever stumped for new ideas? I’m nearly ready to start a new book, but I noticed during the plotting process that I was short on ideas. I had used up many of the ideas collected over the years and stashed in my “Idea Notebook.” While one interesting idea might be enough for a very short story, books take LOTS of intriguing ideas. You need ideas for quirky characters, ideas for many unusual plot twists, ideas for great secondary characters, and unusual places for settings (even when that setting is your home town).

It’s good to write down the ideas that come to you out of the blue (in the shower, when you first awake, on a walk, etc.) But sometimes you need good ideas faster than that. You need LOTS of ideas, and you need them soon. Where are some good places to find them?

1) Get a stack of old magazines, either your own or the stacks given away or traded at most public libraries. Flip through each magazine very quickly. If something catches your eye (unusual photo, funny advertisement, interesting headline, local event), tear out that page. Skim articles–don’t read in depth at this point. That can come later when you put your ideas together.

2) Because many of us spend a lot of time online, also keep a computer version of an Idea File. You can have sub-files labeled “characters” or “themes” or “events,” if you like. But when you are reading the news online or you click on one of those weird-sounding Google ads and come across something odd or funny or quirky, copy and paste the story into your computer Idea File. Also store the URL (the web address where you found the idea.) Remember that URLs can disappear, so copy and paste the pertinent details. Just make it a habit to have your Idea File open when you’re surfing the web, then drop the interesting tidbits you find into the file, and watch it grow!

3) Lie down and try taking a ten-minute nap. Just close your eyes and relax. You might actually fall asleep, but I never do. The minute I try to relax and take a short power nap, my busy mind kicks into gear. All kinds of ideas surface, the kinds that make you get up and write them down before you forget them.

4) This won’t sound like a pleasant way to spend time, but a good idea generator is to make a list of “The things I hate…” List the most annoying people, annoying habits or annoying anythings in your life. Annoying people make great antagonists, annoying habits add character depth to all your characters (including your hero), and annoying events give you plots to write about (and things for your hero to overcome.) The added “plus” in writing about things that annoy or disturb you is that you’ll write with passion. It will help you stick to your writing schedule, and the passion will come through in a more powerful story.

5) Explore words! Just for fun! Read the dictionary or thesaurus. Five minutes of this, and you’ll generate more ideas than you can imagine.

Try to get into the habit of always having your antennae up and alert for ideas. They’re everywhere. Then go one step further and capture the ideas for later writing. Oh, you’ll be glad you did!

October 17, 2008

October 15, 2008

October 13, 2008

October 10, 2008

The topic of writer’s block came up several times this week in email from newer writers via my website. There are multiple causes of writer’s block, with as many solutions. So today I want to point you to a couple of good resources for dealing with this.

(After you finish this post, go to the Absolute Write website to read my article on writer’s block called “A Block by Any Other Name…” )

One resource is a book Kurt Vonnegut called “as well researched and helpful a book on writing as I’ve ever read.” It’s Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer’s Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D. [See Amazon's great used prices for this book!] From her website:
“Writers want to write, but often find themselves whirling through cyberspace, glued to HBO with a box of doughnuts, careening off to the nearest Starbuck’s, and/or carving out last week’s fossilized spaghetti from the kitchen table. Sound familiar? This is what Dr. Karen E. Peterson— who has overcome writer’s block herself—calls ‘the write-or-flight response.’

In this revolutionary book, psychologist and novelist Karen E. Peterson presents an effective way to outwit writer’s block. Based on new brain research and sound psychological principles, this innovative program shows writers how to conquer writer’s block using:

• Exercises to conquer the “write-or-flight” response
• Techniques to create that elusive “writing mood”
• Parallel monologue and interior dialogue to jumpstart the writing process
• Checklists to see which side of the brain is blocking you”

I fully recommend that little book because it worked for me. It explained the physical reasons why certain types of blocks occur–and what to do about them. (Now, off to the Absolute Write website to read “A Block by Any Other Name…” )

Do YOU have a favorite block buster you could share?