December 31, 2008

What’s preventing your success? Thoughts? Behavior? Low energy? Procrastination? Perfectionism? Overdoing? Counter-productivity? Negative self-talk? Disorganization? Time mismanagement? Unrealistic expectations? Defeat your self-defeating behaviors with this one-month mental boot-camp. (from Margie Lawson’s class on “Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors: Allow Writing Productivity and Creativity to Soar.”

Jumpstart 2009 with a Mental Boost

Last week, I mentioned that I would be studying Margie Lawson‘s lecture packet on character emotions.  I also wanted to pass along information about a January on-line class she’s teaching that starts Friday, Jan. 2 and runs till Jan. 30.

Here’s the rundown on the class taken from her class description page. (You can register for her class at the bottom of that page.)

• Address the three fears that paralyze writers
• Analyze yourself: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
• Challenge your internal dialogue
• Redirect resistance and manage your moods
• Duct-tape your Inner Critic
• Protect your priorities
• Practice Conscious Competence
• Apply Margie’s DUH Plan

On-line Class vs. Teaching Packet

You can register for the on-line class for $30 or buy the teaching packet/lectures on this topic for $20. (For lecture packets, go to Margie’s website and click on “lecture packets” on the left-hand side.) You can study the lecture packet at your own speed and any month of the year, while the “self-defeating behaviors” class is only taught in January. I asked Margie what a writer would gain for paying that extra $10–I’m always making sure there is plenty of bang for my buck!

Her email answer included this important information: “Writers taking my Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors (DSDB) course on-line can post their assignments, get feedback, get support, ask questions, get answers. Some class members are active on the class loop, others lurk and learn from what their classmates post. In DSDB, writers also work with a CHANGE COACH throughout the month-long on-line course.  Many of the Change Coach pairs continue working together after the course is over.  They keep those self-defeating dragons from making any sneak attacks. The camaraderie in the on-line class is amazing.  It’s a powerful bond. An amazing force.”

Slay the Dragons!

I can’t personally recommend the course because I haven’t taken it yet (although I plan to register today), but I’ve heard excellent comments about Margie’s other courses. I also know (from 25 years of teaching and from writing my Writer’s First Aid book) that these behaviors are what most often derail writers. As our lives change, the dragons change, but they’re always there, breathing fire down our necks.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to defeat mine–once and for all!

(If you also register for the class, let me know. It would be fun to share on the blog the things we’re learning.)

December 29, 2008

Will this be the year your writing dreams come true?

Last Friday I shared one goal for 2009, a three-pronged “Self-Study Advanced Writing Program” that I designed for myself. Ten days ago I talked about “Setting Goals NOW for 2009,” about moving from where you are to the greater success and fulfillment that you desire.

Now What?

If you did the writing exercises in that post, you now have a clear, detailed, written description of your current writing life. You also have a detailed image of your future perfect writing life. And you know some projects you’d love to work on—your writing dreams. Now what?

To go from where you are to where you want to be as a writer, two things are critical. One has to do with your feelings, and the other has to do with your will.

Two Requirements

First, you need an overwhelming desire to change something in your life. (Perhaps you want to get on a regular writing schedule. Maybe you want to submit the finished stories hidden in your desk. Possibly you’re ready to find an agent.) Whatever your goals, the more specific, the better.

Second, you must be determined to move from wishing and hoping to taking action. It’s as simple as cause and effect: you must do something different (cause) in order to develop the writing life of your dreams (effect). This determination will also involve developing good habits to support, nurture, and sustain your changes. (These habits might include eating right, getting sufficient exercise and sleep, and curtailing time wasters like too much TV and Web surfing. I’ve been working on such a list this past week myself, organized in a 3-ring notebook. So many habits to change!)

Time to Take Action

This week, think about what habits you may need to implement–and which ones you may need to eliminate–to support your writing goals for 2009. If you feel inclined, please share some of the goals and habits you hope to create.

December 26, 2008

In a previous post, I talked about designing a self-study program for 2009 after talking to many fine writers who had completed the MFA (Master of Fine Arts) Writing for Children & Young Adults Program in Vermont. I was envious of how much they’d learned in their two-year program from a stellar faculty. However, I just didn’t have the cash necessary for an expensive program.

So…Could I Do It Myself?

I interviewed both faculty members and students who graduated from the program while designing my self-study program for 2009. I discovered that the program consisted of (1) studying a few texts, (2) closely reading large amounts of children’s books, and (3) much critiquing by advanced writers. While I don’t have any misconceptions that my own self-study program will even approximate going to Vermont for an MFA, I have tried my best to duplicate the elements.

Many of you have emailed me privately and asked about the program I was attempting, so I thought I’d report now in case any of you want to include this in your own 2009 writing goals.

The Elements of My Program

• In a previous post called “Reading Like a Writer” I discussed a book by the same name and how to read children’s books in such a way to learn the author’s writing techniques. I have been doing this for a month or so, but still need to get through the close reading book. To help me with technique study, I started a “Book Club with a Twist” to discuss children’s books with other children’s writers. We are currently making up the reading list for our monthly 2009 meetings.
• I found that a writer friend of mine was also independently pursuing some “higher education” in her children’s writing, even though she has published more books than I have. She was studying Margie Lawson‘s “Empowering Characters’ Emotions” self-study lecture packet. (Go to her website, scroll down to “Lecture Packets” on the left.) When we did our next critique swap, I could tell a huge difference! So I added that to my list of “texts” to study. My friend is an excellent critiquer, so we are planning to study and grow together in 2009, frequently critiquing each other’s work. We started last week with a full book manuscript critique exchange, followed by written notes and a nearly 3-hour free Skype phone call to discuss and brainstorm. I wanted to have the critique done so that I could begin applying what I learned right away.

• For the last month, I’ve been going through the writing books on my shelves and getting recommendations from other writers. At this point, the list below contains the texts I plan to read or re-read, study (and do the exercises in), then apply what I learn to my two MG works-in-progress.

1. Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot by Peter Dunne
2. The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
3. Margie Lawson’s “Empowering Characters’ Emotions” lecture packet (see above).
4. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
5. Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins
6. Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton
7. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
8. Word Magic for Writers by Cindy Rogers

Get Ready, Get Set…

Perhaps you don’t have time or want to do anything this extensive. I would encourage you, though, to choose a book or study course to help you up to the next higher level in your writing. Given the economy right now, you’re wise to make your writing the best it can be.

Also, I’ve rediscovered–just in the planning stages–some of that joy in learning I experienced back in 1979-80 when I took my writing course from the Institute of Children’s Literature. Back then, I couldn’t wait to get the kids down for naps so I could study for a blessed hour of quiet. I loved stretching my mind and seeing my writing skills develop and grow. I love that learning feeling! And I look forward to recapturing that feeling in 2009.

[NOTE: I've had people email me and ask if this is an official program they can join. No, it isn't--it's just something I'm doing for myself. I've also had writers ask if they could exchange critiques with me for this program; I'm afraid I don't have time to take on more critique partners. I have four weekly partners and one book critique partner for the study program. However, I really do encourage you to find a critique partner of your own and get ready to learn! I'd love to hear about YOUR program.]

December 15, 2008

It’s time for the rubber to meet the road. While it was fun to write like the wind during NaNoWriMo, it’s time to get down to work and re-shape the messy rough draft into a publishable book manuscript. I ran into trouble right away with a main character I loved–but who was decidedly limp and forgettable on the page. How could I make her memorable? I found help in an unexpected source: a market guide.

In Book Markets for Children’s Writers 2009, I read an article called “Characters in Control: Charismatic, Flawed, Memorable.” Compiled from interviews with editors from major publishing houses and well known agents, the article shed some very helpful light on what to do with my main character and her sidekick.  Much of the advice in the article shows writers how to develop the type of character that readers love to root for.

Advice from the Pros

“I love character-driven fiction because I want to get into that character’s head and breathe their air, experience the world through their eyes…” says Delacorte Press Executive Editor Wendy Loggia. “Action can happen anywhere. A juicy character can make even the most mundane aspects of life entertaining.”

“Characters’ lives can become almost as real to us as our own,” explains Rachel Orr, a literary agent at the Prospect Agency and former editor at HarperCollins. A successful character is someone whom readers connect with, but “these characters are far from being types. They have original ways of looking at the world, unusual quirks, strong passion, and most importantly, flaws…. Perfect, preachy characters are not only flat and unrealistic, but they’re no fun for anyone to read about, particularly if you’re a tween or teen reader.”

And Michelle Poploff, Vice President and Editorial Director of Bantam, Delacorte Dell Books for Young Readers, explains, “Underdog characters appeal to readers, whether it’s a quirky character, or someone trying to do their best but sometimes falling short. If a reader sees him or herself in the characters that adds appeal.” (FYI: I have permission to use the quotes from the article.)

Quirky Characters: Yes or No?

Last Friday, I talked about the characters in the book club discussion choice, The Egypt Game. The main character, April, was described like this when her friend first meets her: “Her hair was stacked up in a pile that seemed to be more pins than hair, and the whole thing teetered forward over her thin pale face. She was wearing a big, yellowish-white fur thing around her shoulders, and carrying a plastic purse almost as big as a suitcase. But most of all it was the eyelashes. They were black and bushy looking,and the ones on her left eye were higher up and sloped in a different direction.”

She certainly sounds quirky in that description, but without her very touching problems with her mother and her outstanding imagination, she would have just been an oddball. You don’t want “over-the-top, outlandish figures in the name of creativity or originality.”

Wendy Loggia (Delacorte) put it this way: “You can create the quirkiest character in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good character, or one that anyone will care about. Sometimes quirky just equals off-putting and weird.”

The article went on at length about how to create memorable characters, make the best use of character history, finding character motivation and voice, and more. After reading the article, I can spot quite a few weaknesses in my novel’s main character, and I know where to start to bring her to life.

Back to the keyboard!

December 8, 2008

Today is my birthday. Before I open any of my gifts from family and friends, I already know what my favorite gift is going to be. It’s one I decided to give to myself.

Always Running, Faster, FASTER!

I’ve been writing and publishing since my kids were babies. They’re in their twenties and thirties now, having babies of their own. Many of those growing-up years were either single parenting years or times when the family relied heavily on my income. Slowing down to read more or study my craft was not an option. The 50+ hours of work per week needed to generate income: writing books, teaching, speaking, writing test questions, doing private critiques, etc.

Whenever I thought about studying more, reading more, taking more time to grow as a writer (versus making every hour a billable hour), I would promise myself, Later, when things slow down and the cash flow eases up. Even when that day came where I could cut back, I found that the very idea panicked me. I had drummed into my head for so many years that freelancer warning, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” You learn to go without paid sick days or paid vacations–much less time to study one’s craft.

If Not NOW, When?

For several years, I’ve been having a discussion with a dear writing friend who would also love to slow down and study and spend time to improve her writing. It’s a dream we’ve both had for a long time. We’ve done motivational workshops, learned how to “work smarter, not harder,” streamlined our work habits, multi-tasked until we met ourselves coming and going. And what did we do with the time freed up by all this smarter working? We worked more, took on more projects, learned how to do website design/blog/Twitter, and lamented ever finding more time.

The Tipping Point

What pushed me over the edge into making the decision to give myself the gift of time? I went to a writer’s workshop Saturday in Austin, a “first pages” workshop hosted by Cynthia Leitich Smith where Cynthia and HarperCollins editor Jill Santopolo critiqued three opening pages from every workshop participant. One of the many things that struck me Saturday was Cynthia’s broad knowledge of what’s being published. I asked her on break about her reading schedule. She reads a juvenile/YA novel or a stack of picture books DAILY. Most times, I’m embarrassed to say, I do well to read a children’s book a month (usually something a friend has had published.) We learn so much about good writing from reading. I’ve always known that. But at some point–while trying to keep food on the table–I had let that part of my writing life lapse.

Cynthia is an instructor for the famous Vermont MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Jill had been one of her students. Several writers in the audience had completed their MFA program as well. While I don’t have the $$$ to do the two-year program, I can make the time (if I really want to) to read widely what is currently being published. I can study the excellent writing books on my shelves that have gathered dust after I only read the first chapter or two. I always intended to finish the books later–but later had not yet come.

Now is later.

Starting today, I am giving myself the gift of time to study and read. I think if I do my writing/teaching/moneymaking activities in the morning that I can read/study my craft in the afternoons. I’ve wanted to do this for years, and given the economic times, it’s a smart career move too, I expect. We will all need to become better writers. And if not now, when?

Maybe you can’t afford to work part-time yet. I know that situation is a reality for many of us. But if you can squeeze out even a daily hour to read current books in your field and study a writing craft book, I encourage you to do it. I can’t wait! It’s going to be a very good year.

December 5, 2008

Despite the recession, it turns out to be a good time to be a children’s writer.

Signs of the Publishing Times

I’m not an economist–never even took high school economics–but even I could tell that the publishing news this week wasn’t encouraging for many people.

• Simon & Schuster cut 35 people (2% of its workforce).
• Thomas Nelson cut 54 people (10% of its workforce).
• Random House announced it is restructuring and will disband the Doubleday Publishing Group.
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is not acquiring at the moment.

So Where’s That Silver Lining?

According to a story on PW Daily, book sales in November rose 6% over this time last year. Children’s book sales rose more than 33% in that period! YA sales were also up. When times are hard, people still buy books for their kids. And maybe the tougher economic times are turning parents and grandparents away from the expensive electronic gadgets, video games/DVDs and toward books. That’s certainly where many of my own Christmas dollars are going.

Like I said, I’m no economist, but this is good news for those of us who write for children and teens. Keep on writing!

December 1, 2008

Up until 9 p.m. last night, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. Everything in me wanted to watch TV and eat chocolate or bury myself in a good mystery (and eat chocolate). But shortly after 9 p.m. I did a quick word count and realized I’d actually gone over the required 50,000 words. I quit in the middle of the scene and cheered. And got the chocolate.

Bits and Pieces, Inch by Inch

Until Week Four, I was on track with my word count, and my plan for Thanksgiving week had been in place since October. I would write three hours Thanksgiving morning, cook my part of the feast and head to my daughter’s for the whole family gathering at 1:00 p.m, then go to my husband’s family gathering that night. On Friday I expected to be in the car eight hours going to see more family, then in the car on Sunday eight hours coming home. My laptop was ready with an extra battery. I’d written volumes on this trip one other time, and I was actually looking forward to it.

The night before Thanksgiving all plans changed. No trip. No driving on Friday and Sunday, giving me sixteen hours with my laptop to finish the final 12,000 words needed to meet the NaNoWriMo challenge. Instead, we’d be home, and someone requiring entertaining and feeding would be here too.

No Way, José!

I could see no way to meet the deadline with the change of plans. I finally decided I would write as much as I could, sandwiching in the writing time between meals and talking and going places. I would get up real early and write also. For several days, I wrote two hours while the rest of the world slept. I snatched bits of time here and there, sometimes up to an hour if they napped or ran an errand. I plotted in my head while I cooked and while on a walk in a park. Then at my next opportunity, I dashed into the office and typed up a scene. I didn’t bother posting the word count for several days, knowing all those bits and pieces couldn’t be adding up to much.

Boy, was I surprised!

By Saturday night when I added up the hit-and-miss chapters, I was within 5,000 words of making the NaNoWriMo challenge! After church on Sunday, I was home by 1:30. Done eating by 2:30, and the house was empty shortly after that. I decided to try to make the goal, if I could do it without killing my neck and back. I wrote (badly), took short breaks, ate a ton of cheese and crackers, and finally finished after 9 p.m.

The Time Lie

Unknowingly, I had fallen for the “time lie,” as Julia Cameron calls it in her book, The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. “The myth that we must have ‘time’–more time–in order to create is a myth that keeps us from using the time we do have… Years as a single mother, a full-time teacher, and full-time fiction writer taught me to grab for time to write instead of wait for time… Grabbing works.” Later she wrote about living her life with family and friends, filling in the blank spots with writing, instead of the other way around. “I like writing to be more portable and flexible. I like writing to be something that fits into cracks and crannies. I don’t like it to dominate my life. I like it to fill my life.”

I wrote like that for twenty years, when my children were babies and toddlers and as they grew. The family came first, including everything that went into keeping a house and husband happy. But when my last “baby” went off to college in 2000, I finally was able to structure my writing the way I wanted to, writing early in the day in big chunks, leaving marketing or teaching or housework/meals for later. I realized during Thanksgiving that I had become rather rigid. I was delighted that I could still remember how to “write in the cracks and crannies” when I needed to.

I’m glad the NaNoWriMo month is over. I’m thrilled to have finished rough drafts of one book and half of another juvenile novel, which I plan to finish drafting by Christmas. My desk is piled rather high with stuff to attend to. And unlike others who conquered all their Christmas shopping on Black Friday, I haven’t even begun. But I’m really glad I did the challenge in November. I plan to do it again next year. I’d be glad to have some company! Anyone care to join me?